Millcreek Children's Center - The Need Is Great

Home < The Need Is Great

The families of children enrolled at Millcreek Children's Center are deeply affected by the data at the right of this page - low educational status, low economic status, hence low self-esteem, and low expectations. The graph at the bottom of this page shows clearly the bind these families are in. How can you make $28 a month cover all emergencies? What could make any long-term improvement in poor children's lives?

As we know, many factors are involved in the development of every child. However, research on the positive long-term effects of quality early childhood programs does offer hope for the fortunate children enrolled. The highly praised ABCD early childhood program research report*** shows how its early intervention program effected good changes in its pupils at age 18 and at age 30. ABCD former students were statistically superior to the control group in reading and math scores, rate of attending college and securing higher skilled jobs, and avoiding teen pregnancy. This research report and others show that quality early educational programs do enable many pupils to succeed far better than those not having these programs.

Millcreek Children's Center has for many years been producing "graduates" who score high on kindergarten readiness tests, providing they are ready for success in the school system. Later in life, many of our graduates have achieved notable success in college and jobs. For this reason, our Center feels confident that the community will be disposed to help as we work to expand our successful program to include more of the very poor children now without any child care.

***Abecedarian Project, E.P. Pungello, F.A. Campbell Univers. of NC at Chapel Hill

It's Tough Making it in Youngstown (where our pupils live)
Residents	No HS Diploma or GED	26.8%
	No College Degree	90.3%
	Adults Unemployed	14%
	(2008)
Homes	Median Household Income	$24,398
	Median Year Home Built	1944
	Median Home Value	$48,200
	Median Rent	$531/mo
2008 Statistics provided by www.city-data.com.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a family of four earning less than $22,025 ($1,835 per month) is in poverty. Sadly, many of our families are in this category. How can a family make it on such a limited income? What hard choices must they make in order to survive?

After paying for their housing, vehicle expenses, food, utilities and medical care, this family of four is left with only $28 per month for any other needs. This cincludes clothing, school supplies, furnishings, child care and emergencies. Our poor working families cannot meet these needs without robbing Peter to pay Paul, and often have to appeal for help and borrow at excessive interest rates.

Child care costs are a special cause of concern. This is why we seek Sponsor a Child donors to help poor working parents get a quality education for their child.

Poverty Threshold: U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008.
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Campaign for Human Development: www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/

Working Poor Income Chart

One Month
Poor Family of Four
Tough Choices
These figures are based on a nationwide average.
Consumer Expenditures Survey, U.S. Department
of Labor, Bureau of Statistics: 2008.