First Place Programs
First Place offers a tuition-free, state licensed, rigorous Kindergarten through grade 6 education program for children of families in crises. Barriers to attendance are eliminated with small classes, individualized instruction, transportation, healthy meals and snacks, clothing and school supplies. The three year program includes on-site tutoring, mentoring, health screenings and mental health assessments. Students increase social, emotional and academic skills and successfully transition to mainstream classrooms.
First Place Family Support Services offers case management to families in crisis to help them develop and implement a plan to achieve self-sufficiency. We partner with agencies to provide counseling, substance abuse treatment and job skills training. Clients develop skills to advocate for themselves to gain the resources required to support their families and raise happy and healthy children.
First Place works with City University and Antioch University Seattle to change the way future teachers and future psychologists are trained so that they can better understand and support the needs of an at-risk student population.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
First Place students achieve success by increasing their social, emotional and academic skills through our program. Parents succeed by realizing they have choices and make better choices for their families. Families overcome challenges and gain stability. One of our studies shows that 85% of our families maintain their own housing after leaving our programs.
First Place decision to hire a science and math specialist to enhance academic achievement paid off. Pre and Post test of students demonstrate that through the hiring of a trained science and math specialist overall math improvement was increased by 33% for all grade levels, kindergarten through sixth grade by the end of the first year.
Augmenting the educational outcomes of math was supplementing the social development and social supports of 80% of all students through the one on one dedicated support of an adult mentor.
With the support of a dedicated mentor for 80% of all students, First Place witnessed a reduction in overall absenteeism, late arrivals and behavioral outburst from those students who had an ongoing relationship with an adult mentor.
First Place needs $50,000 immediately to provide two weeks of summer fun and summer camp opportunities to children who have never experienced the joy of outdoor education, boating, hiking on trails, backpacking, and maintaining academic gains achieved during the school year.
At First Place, 85% of our revenues are donated from the public. We look for partners to support general operating expenses to pay teachers, case managers and for meals, snacks and transportation for our students to help students achieve and families gain stability.