Yoncalla Early Works (YEW) began in 2012 as a partnership between Yoncalla Elementary School, Children’s Institute, and The Ford Family Foundation. The Early Works initiative brings parents, schools, and communities together to improve school readiness and academic...
For this segment of the Early Link Podcast, I brought my kids to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) to explore the exhibits and learn more about the science museum's involvement in early learning. We spent lots of time in the Science Playground...
Child care is provided at community meetings so parents and caregivers can attend. Residents of Yoncalla and two other North Douglas County communities say they need better access to health care, mental health services, healthy fresh food, and secure...
Second graders improve their literacy skills with the four-week Summer Bookworm program each summer at Earl Boyles. The Summer Bookworm collaborative reading program at Earl Boyles Elementary in southeast Portland just finished its fifth summer as a skill-building...
Peg King at Health Share’s downtown offices. Peg King leads Health Share of Oregon’s kindergarten readiness programming. Health Share is the largest Coordinated Care Organization in Oregon, serving approximately 25 percent of the state’s Medicaid patients. It is...
Early Works this summer is helping Earl Boyles Elementary families stay in their homes or find new ones as housing costs climb throughout east Multnomah County. Josue Peña-Juarez, the new program’s housing and family advocate, has embarked on seeking new homes for...
After her son was diagnosed with autism, Ashley Wells navigated what felt like a maze of information to access the resources she and her family needed. Once she connected with Early Intervention (EI) through the Douglas Education Service District (Douglas ESD),...
“Put your shaker on your nose, on your nose!” A dozen parents and caregivers, gathered in a classroom at Earl Boyles Elementary in southeast Portland, sing along together, encouraging their children to touch their egg-shaped shaker-instruments to their noses. Many...
This year’s parenting education series in Yoncalla simply feels different. Although Erin Helgren, Early Works site liaison for Yoncalla, has facilitated the evidenced-based parenting education series in Yoncalla for many years, she says she has "never seen a group...
Dr. Dana Suskind is a national expert on early language development and co-author of Thirty Million Words: Building a Child's Brain. At the Children's Institute's 2016 Make It Your Business event, she inspired the audience with neuroscience showing that...
