Atlanta Civic Site

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has made a long-term commitment to improving the futures of at-risk children and their families in five high-needs neighborhoods in Atlanta known as Neighborhood Planning Unit V (NPU-V).  Since 2005, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site (ACS) has partnered with schools, parents, community-based organizations and other partners to close the gap in school readiness for the children living in NPU-V.  ACS serves 96 PACE children, 75 of whom are Black/African-American.  Of the 96 children served, 50 receive PAT services, and 46 receive Light Touch services. 

Sheltering Arms Early Learning and Literacy Resource Center (ELLRC) serves as the PACE hub and houses the PACE hub staff.  Hub staff is comprised of 1 hub supervisor and 4 parent educators.  The ELLRC building is physically connected (through an atrium) to its feeder school - Dunbar Elementary.  The children who attend the ELLRC seem to transition easily into the elementary school versus children who enter the school from other centers or home-based care.   The creation of the Early Learning & Literacy Resource Center blends public and private investments to ensure that parents, caregivers and children have the supports they need to support education achievement.

In 2008, the Atlanta Civic Site was awarded a United Way Partners Advancing Childhood Education grant which unites public and private organizations working toward the goal of ensuring that all children start school healthy and prepared to learn. The launch of the Early Learning & Literacy Resource Center represents an expansion and deepening of these efforts.