Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority
601 East 66th Street
Suite 101
Savannah, GA 31405
P.O. Box 14317, Savannah, GA 31416
Phone: 912.352.7054 ~ Fax: 912.352.7451
Edward Chisolm, Executive Director
Savannah Promise Neighborhood
UPDATE! Savannah was not selected as a Promise Neighborhood grantee for 2012; however, we will launch the Savannah Promise Neighborhood in January using the local partners and their commitments toward this initiative. You will be hearing from us!
COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
The next meeting of the SPN Oversight Planning Committee will be announced at a later date.
Emory University School Health Clinic
The requirements for this planning grant have been met. A business plan was completed and is in the stages of being reviewed before it becomes officially authorized. Check this site later for additional information.
Childhood Development Associate (CDA) Program
We are proud to announce that a CDA graduation ceremony was held on November 19 at the First Assembly Church in Garden City. Program participants are now in Phase 2 of the program which should conclude this spring.
YFA Collaborative Meeting
AUTHORITY MEMBERS --
The next collaborative meeting will be FEBRUARY 14 at 4:00 p.m. at the Lewis Cancer Research Pavilion in the 2nd Floor Training Room. Topic Area: TBD
Teen Maze Event-2012
The Teen Maze event for this year will be held March 26-29 at the National Guard Armory. Target population will be first time 8th graders. There will be four event tracks. The goal of the event is to eliminate barriers to students not graduating fom higih school, nd to expose them to career information.
Update on RFPs for St. Pius
Requests for Proposals were solicited for use of the St. Pius facility. The RFP Committee has reviewed the RFPs and will make a recommendation to the Authority Board.
Savannah Receives IBM Grant
The City of Savannah recently received an IBM KidsSmart grant that awarded YFA 30 Young Explorer Little Tikes units to be placed in SCCPSS Pre-K and lower grades classrooms and across selected community centers and child care facilities. YFA was pleased to partner with the SCCPSS on this. This is great news for our early learners and complements our Savannah Promise Neighborhood work. THANK YOU City of Savannah and IBM!
Savannah Promise Neighborhood (SPN)
Recognizing the critical importance of children (ages 0-5) receiving early childhood development opportunities, the Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority (YFA) made this a fourth priority area for our community. Research has shown that children who receive quality early childhood development are better equipped for school and acquire the necessary social and cognitive developmental skills to increase their success when they begin school. YFA held an Early Childhood Development symposium in April 2009 that featured the founder of the very successful Harlem Children’s Zone, Geoffrey Canada, as the keynote speaker. This symposium represented the first of its kind held in the Chatham-Savannah community.
One of the representatives on the planning oversight committee is the Rotary Club, who also recognized the significance of early childhood education in our community. They had previously created a white paper outlining their research and proposed plan of action to address this need locally. Rotary-Kiwanis Clubs have expressed their full support of YFA assuming the lead and embarking on this initiative.
The Rotary-Kiwanis Clubs' Early Childhood Education white paper contains information that will assist the YFA as they continue to craft its white paper to outline a proposal for the entire initiative that will cover ages 0-24. The entire initiative's white paper will be available at a later date. Information on the Savannah Early Childhood Foundation that has been created by the Six Rotary Clubs of Savannah and the Skidaway Kiwanis will be posted later.
Having determined that our community needs this type of initiative, the YFA convened a planning oversight committee immediately following the symposium to craft an Early Childhood Development initiative for Savannah, Georgia. We are now referring to this initiative as the Savannah Promise Neighborhood (SPN). This planning oversight committee is comprised of individuals representing key agencies and institutions, human and social service providers, city government, and civic groups that are vested in seeing this initiative become a reality. A target area for the initiative has been determined, as well as the development of a vision and mission statement. The target area will consist of the revised 2010 census tracts: 11, 12, 15, 20, 23, 112 (BG1) and 113. Preliminary asset mapping work has also started to determine the existing resources within the target area, and a level of distress for the SPN target area is currently being developed by a local institution of higher learning.
Another Promise Neighborhood planning grant was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education on September 8 outlining the proposed scope of work that will be accomplished during the planning year of the Savannah Promise Neighborhood (SPN). This planning grant focuses on what we are referring to as Phase-1 of the SPN, which includes only census tracts 11 & 20. We propose to start this initiative in Phase-1, and expand the work to encompass the entire eight census tracts over years. The YFA and its partners and supporters are committed to establishing a SPN regardless of whether we receive the federal planning grant award, and this year's grant application contained some very significant partner contributions and investments to this work. This year's application Project Abstract is available, with an executive summary of this year's SPN planning grant to be posted soon. The oversight planning committee continues to meet, along with other work groups and committees.
Even though we did not receive the federal planning grant award last year, the work that involved other components of this initiative continued. Savannah State University was instrumental in providing two interns early this year who were trained in family assessment and community needs assessmeent work for the target area. The School-Based Health Clinic work under the guidance of Emory University completed with the completion of a business plan to be submitted to the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System. Check this page later for a overview of its contents.
Check our YFA News section for updates and other information on the SPN.
The SPN serves as an over-arching initiative that encompasses other components. These complementary components include:
- Emory University School-Based Health Clinic (planning grant)
Access the Focus Groups Final Report #1 Access the Focus Groups Final Report #2
Business Plan 
- Grade Level Reading Campaign
- Annie E. Casey Foundation Innovation Grant ~ Childhood Development Associate (CDA) credential
- Caring Communities ~ System of Care (SOC)
Access the SOC Executive Summary Access the SOC Year-1 Program Evaluation Report
- IBM KidsSmart program & Young Explorer Little Tikes computer units for children ages 3-7
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A video produced by The Ounce of Prevention Fund does an excellent job of portraying what we are seeking to accomplish at the preventative stage across the Pipeline for the Savannah Promise Neighborhood. Below is the video entitled
"Change the First Five Years and You Change Everything"
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Child Development Associate (CDA) program
One CDA class held at Blackshear Community Center
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Additional information: