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July 11, 2005
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Media Contact: |
Mike Andrei
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Daemen College Awarded Funds from the Peter & Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation for Early Literacy Partnership
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The Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation has awarded a two-year grant totaling $69,455 for a collaboration between Daemen College, St. John Christian Academy, The Community Action Organization of Erie County, Inc., which administers Head Start, and Harvest House. The grant will allow the partners to implement an early literacy program called Fresh Start.
The goal of Fresh Start is to directly and systemically improve the literacy of children, particularly low-income residents of the East Side of Buffalo, by providing training to early education teachers in literacy instruction; offering direct literacy instruction to children in grades pre-K through 1; and placing Daemen students in classrooms to provide literacy instruction to children. Funding from the Tower Foundation will provide essential resources--staff, training, and supplies--to support teacher training, direct literacy instruction, and lasting change in the Fruit Belt neighborhood. Fresh Start builds on the efforts of the St. John Fruit Belt CDC Development Team. The Development Team, lead by Reverend Michael Chapman of St. John Baptist Church, works collaboratively to synchronize development efforts in this neighborhood for long-term stability. These development efforts include employment training and opportunities, living wages, home ownership, health care, and education. In June of 2004, Daemen College was invited to serve on the St. John Fruit Belt CDC Development Team, and the College committed to assisting with education specifically. |