Ready Communities is an outreach and leadership development program of Down East Partnership for Children (DEPC) designed to strengthen the community’s investment in and support of families with children, birth to age 8, early childhood education, literacy, and child health. Ready Communities also works in collaboration with DEPC’s Ready Schools and Healthy Kids initiatives to connect community leaders and volunteers to the work of the Partnership.

Ready Communities uses systems change strategies to connect community partners and facilitate their collaborative work to achieve shared outcomes for children, birth to age 8, and their families. These community partners include individuals, families, early care providers, businesses, schools, faith institutions, and health and human service agencies. Ready Communities also seeks to build the capacity of the community to facilitate community-driven action and to link families with the programs and services needed to be successful.

Ready Communities offers families, community partners and community leaders the following opportunities to be involved virtually based on their own level of interest.

• Virtual Community Fellows

• Virtual Quarterly Targeted Trainings

• Virtual Early Childhood Community Partners Meeting

• Virtual Action Learning Volunteer Opportunities

These involvement opportunities focus on outreach, leadership development, adult education, community action planning and coaching to build the capacity of the community to launch every child as a healthy, life-long learner by the end of third grade.

For more information, contact:

Viola Barnes-Gray, Ready Communities Coordinator, vgray@depc.org; (252) 985-4300 ext. 251

Donia Simmons, Ready Communities Specialist, dsimmons@depc.org;  (252) 985-4300 ext. 236