We are thrilled to share the incredible news that Washtenaw Promise has received a generous donation of $15,000 for our sponsorship of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

This heartwarming contribution comes from the wonderful 100+ Women Who Care Washtenaw County group. Their support ensures that the magic of reading will continue to be delivered to the doorsteps of eager young minds through 2024! We also wanted to thank the Ladies Literary Club of Ypsilanti, who not only helped the 100+ Women group choose us as their giving target this year but also gave us $5,600 in 2023.

A picture truly says a thousand words, and this check represents countless stories waiting to unfold. Thank you to 100+ Women Who Care for championing literacy and making a lasting impact on the lives of our young readers.

We are happy to announce that our new Bruin Lake Educational Center is now under development and is expected to start offering outdoor opportunities for kids and teachers by the summer of 2023. At this facility located approximately 40 minutes west of Ypsilanti on Bruin Lake, we will bring children out of classrooms and into nature. The property is an astounding slice of nature, now with a profound promise of providing young minds with an outdoor experience and space to learn and grow.

Learn more here.

Our annual Community “Block Party Event will soon be scheduled for late August! Our partner organizations; Bob-a-loo, Pajama Program, Willow Run Acres, Imagination Library, Children’s Literacy Network, and many others will be joining us at the event to bring a host of activities for young kids to enjoy with their parents. Bob-a-loo will offer movement activities that incorporate literacy. Pajama Program will provide inspiring storybooks that are suitable for children to read at bedtime and promote healthy sleep. Willow Run Acres will demonstrate how to do step-by-step gardening Our Imagination Library program will present free and high-quality books for children from birth to age five. Children’s Literacy Network will hold fun interactive literacy-based activities for children and parents to participate together. We look forward to meeting you at the Literacy Event!

Ruth Habrecht brings the acclaimed Bob-a-loo Program to Ford Early Learning Center

Bob-a-loo is a movement-based learning program for early childhood development. It is an interdisciplinary, multi-component program that incorporates mimicry of and identification with wild animals to help children develop gross motor skills, improve cognitive function, and work on social skills. Children build self-confidence as they tackle and overcome motor tasks and challenges. Bob-a-loo effectively addresses the physical and emotional health of children aged about 2-5 years and provides a non-competitive, creative and nurturing environment.

Washtenaw Promise is proud to be a full partner and supporter of the Bob-a-loo Program.

Our good friend, T.C. Collins, founder of Willow Run Acres of Ypsilanti, has founded a new Community Garden at Appleridge Park in Ypsilanti. The gardens will be developed and ready for use this year!! Willow Run Acres provides a wide range of experiences including hands-on gardening, gardening classes and education, annual Potato Days, wellness ventures, sustainability in a holistic & healthy approach, garden safety classes, food distribution, role modeling/mentor opportunities, and other community engagements for individuals, groups, families, and businesses. They aim to promote sustainable gardening and farming within the community using a positive, encouraging, educational, and hands-on approach. TC started gardening and farming at 2-3 years old with his great great grandparents. He now manages many gardens and has reached over 2,500 students with his classes, workshops, volunteerism and community engagement through gardening and farming every year.

Please consider volunteering with Willow Run Acres and/or Washtenaw Promise in early April to help build the new community Garden at Appleridge Park!

We are proud to announce new 2022 collaborations with the Great Start Collaborative/Success by Six, the Children’s Literacy Network, Hutan for World Health and several other local non-profits, to develop an early childhood literacy collaborative, bringing talents, energies and resources to focus on strategic goals directed at increasing early childhood literacy in our community(ies); goals that will, when worked on collectively, be achieved sooner and with more power for change.