FIRST 5 Mendocino - 1st Round Funded Applicants

2nd Round Funded Applicants (July 2001)

At its July 9, 2001 meeting, FIRST 5 Mendocino approved the applications listed below for funding, contingent upon successful contract negotiations.
The Commission is very pleased to make these awards (in the amount of $230,632) and congratulates those applicants receiving funding.
INLAND NORTH	(Willits, Branscomb, Laytonville, Leggett & Piercy)
NORTH COAST OPPORTUNITIES, INC. A Place for Children		$30,000/$56,000
North Coast Opportunities, Inc. (NCO), in collaboration with a variety of County agencies and community-based organizations, will use their funding to support the planning and construction of a childcare center-a Place for Children (the Place) withint the Willits Integrated Services Center (WISC). The project will increase the availability of a full continuum of quality childcare in the North County, including: traditional childcare; childcare for special needs children and during non-traditional hours; parent and caregiver education to increase parenting skills; and access to comprehensive health services for children and their parents.

COASTAL NORTH	(Westport, Ft.Bragg, Comptche, Mendocino, Caspar, Albion, Little River)
MENDOCINO COAST CLINICS, INC. Coastal Tobacco Cessation Project		$30,583
The Mendocino Coast Clinics will implement a much needed tobacco cessation program on the Coast. The program will target pregnant women who smoke, their partners, and parents of children 0-5 years old. The program includes an intervention program initiated during pre-natal care, a group cessation program, recruitment and training of two local tobacco cessation instructors. Other support services will be available such as on-site childcare for group participants, medical evaluation for nicotine replacement therapy and funding for the therapy if it is not affordable to the participant and ongoing referral and support for those who have completed the course and need extra help periodically.
CASPAR CHILDREN'S GARDEN Early Child Care and Child Education Project (ECCCE)		$30,000
Designed to improve the quality of child care in the North Coast Region of Mendocino County, the ECCCE project will address strategies and activities that will increase accreditation, training, technical assistance and continuing education opportunities for new and ongoing child care providers and centers, increase assessment of the quality of child care programs. The project will provide financial incentives to promote professional growth for early care providers, increase the training and education of providers, purchase self assessment tools and encourage all providers and centers to participate in the self assessment process and support the creation of a list of qualified substitute teachers.
WESTPORT VILLAGE SOCIETY Westport Parents' Club		$7,630
The Westport Parents' Club is a new group of parents who are joining together to address their shared problems of isolation and lack of opportunity. With their $7,630 award, this group of parents will gather families of young children living between Ten-Mile River and Rockport. They will hold monthly meetings consisting of parents, focusing on immediate benefits to families such as health and parenting education; information about available governmental and private family services; guest speakers who would bring a special skill, art, music, or learning opportunity to the group; and a chance for parents to socialize and support one another. These local families will participate in a music program together as they plan how to best provide child development and child care services in their area.
FT. BRAGG UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Perinatal Parent Education and Support Project		$44,203
Proposed by the Safe Passage Family Resource Center, this project will plan, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a series of 12 one -half hour sessions for the caregivers of infants. They will offer classes in English and Spanish and will be open to all families in the North Coast region of Mendocino County. The result will be increased capacity for effective community-based parent education and support systems on the North Coast and to increase participation in parenting classes, groups and play groups.
SAFE PASSAGE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER Mendocino Coast Family Resource Directory		$6,400
The Mendocino Coast Family Resource Directory on-going, collaborative, grassroots project, which is collecting and developing a comprehensive database of services and activities available to North Coast families. The data will also be incorporated into the Mendocino County information and referral website. Families will benefit from coordinated, centralized access to the information they seek and need. The group has already compiled over 200 different North Coast resources.

COASTAL SOUTH	(Elk, Manchester, Point Arena, Gualala)
MENDOCINO FAMILY & YOUTH SERVICES Kids Ready for Kindergarten		$25,816
This project will provide outreach, assessment, support, parent education, health services, and referral to other resources for the most at-risk, families and children when the children are ages 0-5. The main feature of the program will be home visitation. The program will provide learning opportunities on issues of child rearing, including child development, in the home, and in parent support and education groups in the community. This project will also enable isolated parents to build a local support system.