Vital Connections of the Midlands

Vital Connections of The Midlands, Inc. is a non-profit early care and education program whose main focus is providing family centered services for at-risk families and young children who are struggling with poverty, substance use and are at-risk for child abuse and neglect.

Vital Connections of the Midlands provides high-quality, comprehensive early care and education at three childcare centers that are community based and serve primarily low-income families. Our childcare centers provided services during the fiscal year to approximately 130 children and their families through education and care of the children and by supporting family well-being and nurturing relationships between children and their parents. We support family well-being and nurturing relationships between children and their parents. We encourage lifelong learning, while shaping and preparing families and children to succeed educationally, socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually in today's world. We are recognized as an early childhood education leader in our community.

Testimonials

The Power of Information
Hello, my name is Tynetta Cohen. I am a parent of two children at Tender Years of Vital Connection. Wesley is three years old, and Winston is ten months old. We started at Tender Years a few days after Wesley's 2nd birthday, and I was pregnant with Winston. When we began, the teacher and I met and discussed goals I had for Wesley and things they will work on in the classroom. The most important skill at the time for me was working on his language competencies. He was barely talking and though you could tell he fully understood what you were saying, he did not know how to express how he was feeling or what he wanted past one or two words at a time. And often it would be the same words over and over. Conversely, we could see his frustration with us as his parents, not understanding what he was trying to convey to us. Within a few months, there was a noticeable difference in his speech pattern and clarity. His vocabulary grew and his usage of the correct words was in fact, surprising. Even now his vocabulary is expanding in positive ways. A large portion of the confusion experienced between parent and child has been diminished, though there is still some. After checking in with me about Wesley's progress and the fact that he still has some hurdles with clarity in his speech to get past we agreed that he should see a speech therapist. His teacher, family advocate, and behavior health manager have helped me start setting up the next steps he will need after he ages out of the Vital Connections program, so he continues to grow. We are immensely appreciative of the time and care given to our son and the development of his speech and vocabulary habits. We get a lot of comments about his progress from family and know with just a little more help he will be mastering his language skills soon. On top of the attention that Tender Years has put in with taking care of my babies and nurturing them in all the right ways, whether it be educational or overall life skills, Vital Connections has also positively impacted our family. Our teachers and family advocate have provided many opportunities to engage with our fellow families and community in a fun, educational, and safe manner. One of those was a Zoom seminar offered in early 2021 about financial growth and taking the necessary steps to buy a house. We were already wondering about buying a house but had no clue where to start. This class gave us a starting point and lit a fire under me to truly put a plan in place. We closed on our home in April 2022 and though there were a few setbacks, I truly believe that class gave us the confidence and knowledge to achieve this long-wanted goal of ours. I would like to end this letter by thanking Tender Years and the greater Vital Connections family for all they do and the efforts that are put forth to better the lives of not only their students but the family unit. When the whole family can thrive, the child is able to follow. I look forward to seeing how Winston will thrive at Tender Years.

Reaching Goals
My name is Breann Ballard, I am the mother of four beautiful children, two boys and two girls ages 6, 5, 3, and 5 months. My relationship with Vital Connections began in 2017 when I was accepted into the program at Arthurtown as a pregnant mom. I have two children that have completed the Early Head Start program at Arthurtown and have two children currently enrolled at Arthurtown. My family advocate (Ms. Sumpter) asked me one day if I had any goals that I would like to meet for me and my family. My response was: "Yes, I would like to find a job that would allow me to work around the hours that my children are in school. Ms. Sumpter immediately told me to check VCM's Facebook page for weekly job postings from SCDEW. Ms. Sumpter also informed me that VCM was hiring substitute teachers. At first, I was hesitant to apply, but Ms...