The Scale of the Problem
Across the United States, children’s life prospects are still largely determined by the circumstances of their birth. This is particularly acute in the South, where most children in low-income families remain stuck at the bottom of the economic ladder. A child born into a family at the bottom 25% of income in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, home to Guilford County, has a less than five percent chance of progressing to the top quartile as an adult—one of the worst rates of upward mobility in the nation. And approximately half of the 55,000 children who live in Guilford County, NC grow up in or near poverty.
A Promising Solution
Research shows that early-childhood interventions can help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty by ensuring infant health, supporting social and emotional development and increasing readiness for school. GRGI identifies developmental needs from before birth to age eight, providing access to a continuum of services and supports that prevent delays from becoming persistent gaps, thus breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
Blue Meridian's Investment
Our investment supports the Get Ready Guilford Initiative, a 12-year strategy to improve early outcomes for low-income children from preconception through age eight. The first phase of investment focused on building a high-quality system of care and expanding and improving existing services in Guilford County, where there was previously no comprehensive early childhood system. The second, seven-year phase of investment will support The Duke Endowment and its backbone partner, Ready for School, Ready for Life, to achieve implementation of early childhood services for all families in Guilford County and lay the groundwork for a long-term cradle-to-career strategy for the county. This second phase will balance the implementation of the prenatal to age-three strategies with the ramping up of interventions that impact children ages three and beyond.
Up to $120M invested over 7 years
Build a comprehensive system of care for Guilford County families with children through age eight
Reach at least 67% of families prenatal to age three annually with high-quality evidence-based programs
Why We Are Excited About The Get Ready Guilford Initiative
Every organization in our investment portfolio displays a multitude of strengths. Here are some highlights of the tremendous potential we saw in the Get Ready Guilford Initiative that motivated us to invest:
Replication Potential
The Get Ready Guilford Initiative offers an adaptable approach to lift up children and their families living in poverty. By utilizing data and examining the impact of various interventions across the continuum, GRGI will identify which elements of the initiative are most critical and compelling for replication in other cities and regions across America.
With the support of The Duke Endowment, GRGI can serve as a model for similar efforts around the country and influence thought leadership in place-based social-sector work.
Continuum of Care with Evidence-Based Programs
The Get Ready Guilford Initiative is anchored by the expansion and integration of multiple evidence-based programs (several of which are also Blue Meridian national grantees, including Upstream USA, Nurse-Family Partnership, and HealthySteps). These programs have a national footprint and years of research documenting their positive impacts on children and families. They will significantly expand their reach in Guilford County and play a central role in the development of an integrated continuum of care.
Joint Initiative in Guilford County Committed to Early Childhood
This initiative is spearheaded by The Duke Endowment, which has partnered with Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready), the backbone of Guilford County’s early childhood efforts. Building on decades of work to create an innovative, connected early childhood system, Ready Ready has galvanized key stakeholders, including public sector agencies and elected officials, around this effort. The Duke Endowment and Ready Ready’s emphasis on collective leadership and accountability, coupled with community-led governance, will be instrumental in ensuring deep support for and ownership of this complex, cross-sector initiative.
About the Get Ready Guilford Initiative
The Get Ready Guilford Initiative attempts to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and improve individual and population-level outcomes for the approximately 55,000 children, prenatal to age eight, living in Guilford County. By focusing on increasing the rates of healthy births, infant and toddler development, school readiness at kindergarten, and reading proficiency by third grade, the initiative can set participants on a path to better life trajectories. The strategy is informed by the scientific community’s increasing attention to the earliest years of life as our country’s best opportunity for disrupting cycles of poverty. This strategy will build a system that identifies needs proactively – before they become persistent gaps – and responds with effective services at the right points in development.
About The Duke Endowment
The Duke Endowment is spearheading the Get Ready Guilford Initiative in partnership with Ready for School, Ready for Life. The Endowment’s mission is to strengthen communities in North Carolina and South Carolina by nurturing children, promoting health, educating minds and enriching spirits, and in 2017 it announced a foundation-wide emphasis on the early childhood years. As the Endowment invests more in young children, it expects to build expertise that generates higher-impact grantmaking and greater thought leadership about issues facing young children and their families. The Duke Endowment was a founding partner of Blue Meridian.