FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Partnering for the Future of Children

PASADENA, CALIF. – JULY 21, 2006. Mothers’ Club of Pasadena has been awarded two significant grants to support its child development program for at-risk children from birth through five-years.
The California Community Foundation’s Education Program has awarded a two-year grant totaling $80,150 that will sustain the Mothers’ Club preschool program over 2006-2007; and support an expanded preschool program in the organization’s new facility, scheduled to open in September 2007.
The second award, from The Atlas Family Foundation in the amount of $50,000, will support Mothers’ Club’s infant and toddler program, and expand its parent education offerings with a new class focused on prenatal care and parenting from infancy through age four.

Partnerships such as these are critical to the success Mothers’ Club, an organization built on two guiding principles: in order for significant, long-term change to occur within a family, you must reach both parent and child and educate them together; and, the most critical time to reach a family is when children are proven to be most vulnerable and impressionable, between birth and 5 years-old.
On a larger scale, the commitment demonstrated by these philanthropic organizations to the well-being of children and parents throughout Southern California is truly exemplary and deeply valued by those working the field on a daily basis.

Perhaps the continued learning outcomes demonstrated by the children at Mothers’ Club were a key factor in building these partnerships. For example, program year 2006:

• 100% of four-year-olds had mastered the reading/school readiness indicators known to support a successful transition to kindergarten after 200 hours of early childhood education; and
• Children from infancy through age three demonstrated growth in all areas of child development 94% of the time after 200 hours of early childhood education.

Founded in 1915, the California Community Foundation holds assets totaling more than $800 million and manages more than 1,300 individual charitable funds. It makes grants to nonprofit organizations serving the communities of Los Angeles County.

Founded in 1985, The Atlas Family Foundation concentrates its charitable resources to advance high-impact early childhood intervention and education programs for children prenatal-to-three and their families.

Founded in 1961, Mothers’ Club Family Learning Center prepares families living in isolation and poverty to succeed in school and in life through two-generation learning programs. Mothers’ Club services are comprised of high quality, research-based early childhood education for children ages 0-5, and a comprehensive adult program which includes parenting education, leadership training, adult literacy, vocational exploration, group counseling and social networking for the primary caretaker, most often the mother. For more information, please contact Sarah E. Orth at (626) 683-5677, or sarah@mothersclub.org.

@ 2006 Mothers' Club Family Learning Center
526 East Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104
Office: (626) 792-2687 Fax: (626) 793-1832