Program:
Childhood development center serving children from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds including homeless, low income, and York Street neighborhood infants and children.

Age Range:
2 months to 5 years

Served to date:
Over 700 children

Average enrollment:
50 children

Staff:
14 Full-time
1  Part-time

“Somewhere along the way, someone put their hands on the shoulder of a child and said ‘you matter’. That’s what you’re doing here collectively. You signify this child matters… this life.”
– Journalist and Commentator, Bill Moyers

Facilities
Housed within the York Street Project buildings in Jersey City, New Jersey, The Nurturing Place provides children, many of whom live in the on-site transitional housing facility, St. Joseph’s Home, with an educational and supportive environment while their mothers are at work or school.

Six classrooms provide developmentally appropriate space for the following age groups: Infant/Toddler (2 month – 18 month olds), Transitional Toddler (18 month to 2 year olds), Toddler B (2-3 year olds), Pre-School (3-4 year olds), Pre-Kindergarten (4-5 year olds). In the summer months, we welcome back the school-age children who have graduated from the program (6-10 year olds).

Services Provided
Through our unique curriculum, we aim to identify and arrest developmental delays caused by lives of poverty, homelessness, and abuse. Unchecked, these delays continue the cycle, forever limiting children to lives of emotional, social, and educational difficulty.

Our curriculum is experiential-learning based and focuses on the following three objectives:
– Enhancement of social, cognitive, physical, and emotional skills
– Learning the meaning of teamwork and its importance
– Development of an appreciation and sense of respect for the world around us

Our Staff
Vicki Hayes is the Director of The Nurturing Place. She oversees the center and continually evaluates and assesses the effectiveness of the program to provide the best possible opportunity for our children. The Nurturing Place’s faculty and staff members work closely with the children daily. We also are fortunate to have the services of foster grandmothers and regular volunteers to work with the children one or two full days each week. A strong group of volunteers from local High Schools and members of the local corporate community also assist us during the week.