Room to Grow August 20

Join Room to Grow on Tuesday, August 20th, 2013 from 5:30-7:30pm for a Learn and Serve Session about Room to Grow, a non-profit organization with a mission to enrich the lives of babies born into poverty during their critical first three years of life.

Learn about the launch of our first ever Young Professionals Council

Visit our warm and inviting space
Participate in a service project
Mingle with like-minded professionals

Network with Room to Grow and Staff and Friends

What is Room to Grow?

Born out of the recognition that every parent raising a child needs support, information and essential items for their growing baby, Room to Grow aims to enrich the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first three years of development. The first fragile three years of a baby’s life require nurturing, responsive care giving and economic stability in order for children to thrive, however families living in poverty face multiple stressors that can be detrimental to a child’s safety and future development. Without these things, babies raised in poverty are more likely to enter Kindergarten behind their middle class peers, leading to a lifelong achievement gap that is nearly impossible to overcome.

Room to Grow was founded in 1998 by social worker and child psychotherapist Julie D. Burns who was working with adolescent patients in some of New York City’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Her intention was to combat the reality that many social, emotional and cognitive challenges that her patients faced had roots from their early experiences in life. Since expanding to Boston in 2005 our unique and innovative program has offered a specialized intervention that addresses a root cause of educational and economic disparity - the parenting skills and resources required for healthy childhood development.

WHY NOW?

Currently close to 400 Boston children and their families receive over 2,000 hours of parenting support at Room to Grow each year however we know that the need is far greater. According to the US Census Bureau, there are more than 30,000 children in Boston living in poverty who are under the age of three. This year increased media attention resulting from policy changes defines early childhood development as beginning at age 4, however we know that a sustainable difference can be made even sooner. Over the next three years, Room to Grow plans to increase client capacity to 700-1,000 families annually. As we grow and develop, we need help your help now more than ever before, which is why we seek to recruit like-minded Bostonians in their mid-late 20s and 30s, working and studying across all fields and industries in the city, who wish to share their time talent and treasures in support of our organization.

Please see the flier attached for more details and feel free to bring a friend(s). To RSVP, for more questions, or directions please give me a call at 617.859.4545 or email me at jerriann@roomtogrow.org.