NEWS RELEASE                                                                                                                        January 9, 2025

Washington, D.C., January 9, 2025.  Bright Beginnings, Inc. (BBI) has been awarded a $25,000 grant from The Evelyn S. and K.E. Barrett Foundation to open infant and toddler child development centers at Lorraine H. Whitlock Elementary School and Garfield Elementary School in Washington, DC.

Bright Beginnings, an organization supporting families to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and eradicate disparities in economic mobility, received $25,000 to serve 34 infants and toddlers from birth to three years of age at each location. The organization currently serves 164 children from birth to five years of age at its 4th Street SE Center in the Congress Heights neighborhood. BBI was awarded a Head Start expansion grant to support the opening of the two additional centers, located in Wards 7 and 8 in Washington, DC. The Barrett Foundation grant will provide partial funding for the 20% private funding match that Head Start requires of its federal support.

“Bright Beginnings relies on the generosity of private funders like the Barrett Foundation to maintain the public-private partnership that is a hallmark of the Head Start program” said Erin Fisher, Bright Beginnings’ Chief Executive Officer. “We are also proud to partner with DC Public Schools on the opening of these infant and toddler child development centers. The new centers will help address the shortage of high-quality early childhood education seats for children age birth to two years in DC, particularly for families living east of the Anacostia River.”

For more information about the Evelyn S. and K.E. Barrett Foundation, please visit: https://eskebarrettfoundation.org/

The Evelyn S. and K.E. Barrett Foundation supports organizations that are working to improve children’s health, safety, and education to create opportunities for their enrichment so that they may live fulfilling lives.

About Bright Beginnings:

Bright Beginnings Inc. (BBI) provides safe and nurturing child development, early childhood education, and family wrap-around services at no cost during the critical, early stages of a child's life. BBIs’ approach is based on the premise that all children are better served when the entire family is supported. In addition to our early childhood education programming, we support families experiencing housing instability by strengthening employment pathways and helping parents build social capital, accrue economic assets, and access health, wellness, and therapeutic services.

In April 2024, BBI achieved a significant milestone by earning the "High Quality" designation in the District of Columbia's Capital Quality program. Capital Quality, implemented by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s (OSSE) Division of Early Learning (DEL), is the District's enhanced Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS).