Collaboration with Communities
We have a track record for working with communities and as result HAF’s first efforts centered on developing capital to foster new approaches and expand the reach of proven solutions. This was based on initial interviews with community-based organization (CBO) leaders who made clear that they had specific needs that go beyond that of a typical capital campaign aimed towards a building. We also worked to bring the PACE (Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) model to local communities.
Nuestros Niños: Sesame Street in Communities is fostering collaborations with communities to create a future in which all children will have the support they need in the first years of life to grow smarter, stronger, and kinder to shape a better world and future for all. Nuestros Niños with support from the Centene Charitable Foundation, is supporting families and those providing early childhood services with over 150,000 free Sesame Street bilingual toolkits for families and providers and books for kids. In Hispanic early childhood services centers we are opening Sesame Street Comfy-Cozy Spaces in 20 cities and bringing Elmo and friends to Hispanic family community events. In response to COVID-19, we are delivering online lessons from your favorite Sesame Street characters to support kids and families. New Sesame Street Videos include Book Buddies, Simple Dance, Sing After Me, and Comfy Cozy Nest . For more free resources visit www.sesamestreetincommunities.org (English) or www.sesamestreetincommunities.org/espanol (Spanish).
Fifteen years of success with ¡Vive tu vida! Get Up! Get Moving!® shows the tremendous collaborative capacity that local organizations can mobilize, leveraging seed grants 10 to 1 to deliver services to over a quarter million families including over 100,000 free health screenings powered by over 500 partner groups and 50,000 volunteer hours. In 2020 we went to virtual platforms to continue to serve our families.
Our most recent efforts focus on collaborations to enhance the work of community-based organizations to support children and their families. Nuestras Comunidades (Our Communities): Advancing Place-Based Opportunity Ecosystems, with support from the Kresge Foundation, is advancing the practice of human services with a focus on equity and fostering opportunity for all families and communities.
We have learned that the strategy of developing a model and scaling up often ignores the resources, strengths, and needs of communities. As a result we collaborate with communities by listening to their needs and developing innovative interventions to build on their resources.
Our collaborative efforts resonate to the needs of the communities we serve.