Being homeless as a child can be a traumatic experience. Our focus at People Serving People is to honor child development through encouraging and guiding social, emotional, and intellectual growth. We provide an environment where the joy of learning is enhanced. Our shelter provides a physically safe, emotionally secure, and intellectually stimulating environment where children can be supported and build confidence.
Early Childhood Development Center
The Early Childhood Development Center is an on-site, licensed Child Care center for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. What began as a collaborative between the U of M Institute for Child Development and People Serving People is now a year-round program that provides early learning classes to children staying at the shelter. The center, located on the first two floors of our shelter, provides quality parent and child education for homeless families. In addition, the center develops and evaluates best practices and connects families with community resources.
People Serving People's Early Childhood Development Center's goals are to: 1) Provide quality early childhood programming for children 6 weeks to 5 years during their stay, 2) Provide a free, on-site child care program for parents to access while staying at People Serving People, and 3) Give parents free time to work on job searches, finding housing, and other time consuming tasks.
The Early Childhood Development Center provides developmentally appropriate curriculum for all children; with a particular focus on supporting the areas of development which may be affected by homelessness. Children learn in a physically safe, emotionally secure, and intellectually stimulating environment. The year-round curriculum is broken down into monthly classroom activities which include the following areas of development: artistic exploration, sensory development, language acquisition, pre-writing skills, social development, creativity development, emotion development, large motor skills, music and movement, and science and math skills.
Education and Activities
The Education and Activities Program is an afterschool program at our shelter for school aged children that also offers family and parent programming.
People Serving People's Education and Activities program's goals are to provide 1) quality afterschool programming for school-aged children during their stay at our shelter, 2) parent education, and 3) a safe environment for families to reduce stress. Activities include People Serving People's Tutoring Program, Kids Resiliency Education and Play & Learn Parent Groups, the Birthday Program, and the Family Game Pack Program. Other activities from the community join us at the shelter, including the Free Arts Program and Girl Scouts. The children occasionally go on field trips and enjoy recreational activities, and family activities, like ‘movie night', are offered as well.
School-aged children at our shelter can relieve stress and have access to outlets for recreation and learning. A safe environment for children to interact and develop a positive self esteem is fostered at People Serving People, and positive communication with other children and adults is promoted through activities. Children increase academic skills and often improve at school while staying at People Serving People due to our Tutoring Program. Family unity is encouraged to continue educational development beyond the walls of our shelter, and families are connected to community resources to assist with their children's success. Parents of young children get to interact with their own children and discuss parent concerns with community educators. People Serving People develops relationships with local businesses, community resources, and partnerships so staff can offer a broader range of activities for children and families.