Mosaic Family Zone selected as 1 of 4 cities by Geoffrey Canada from Harlem Children's Zone to personally support in the fight against Poverty
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mosaic Family Zone
03.07.2023
Mosaic Family Zone hosts nationally known author and leading advocate for impoverished children, Geoffrey Canada. Mr. Canada has selected Toledo’s Mosaic Family Zone as 1 of 4 cities that he is personally investing in.
[Sophia Quintero Arts and Cultural Center, March 13 @ 5:30]. The Mosaic Family Zone, a comprehensive collection of programs impacting the lives of families in the Old South End of Toledo, Ohio announces a formal alliance with Geoffrey Canada, founder of Harlem Children’s Zone/William Julius Wilson Institute located in New York City. The alliance is designed to help support Mosaic’s “pregnancy to purpose” pipeline.
Mr. Canada will be speaking at the Baby U graduation where to date over 900 parents have graduated. Parents learn the best practices for raising children. The children, in turn are prepared for kindergarten.
The Wilson Institute was founded by Geoffrey Canada to help other cities create “cradle to career” pipelines. Mr. Canada has been featured in Ted Talk, NY Times story, 60 Minutes interview, Waiting For Superman documentary, Time Magazine 100 profile, Finding Our Roots episode and has authored two books. Currently, the Institute works with 24 cities, four of which Mr. Canada personally chooses to invest in. Toledo is one of those prestigious four cities. Mr. Canada says he decided to involve himself and his organization following a 2021 visit to Toledo. “I was impressed by the support Mosaic receives from all levels of the Toledo community. There were business, government, and non-profit leaders in attendance. I have been pleased to know they also have a significant and diverse donor network.”
The methods and practices at the foundation of The Mosaic Family Zone are based on a model that has been successfully implemented in several communities throughout the country, most notably in the form of the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City. “When we started working in this neighborhood, 16 years ago, we realized the challenges of generational poverty were overwhelming. “We thought there must be someplace or someone making actual changes. We found the Harlem Children’s Zone and Geoffrey Canada. We have been working to implement this proven model for the past 12 years. It was quite a surprise and blessing to receive his offer last year to be the 4th of the 4 cities where he is personally supporting implementation of the cradle to career model.” Says David Kaiser, Executive Director of the Mosaic Family Zone.
The Harlem model starts with Baby College and continues to work closely with children throughout their primary education, college and into the workforce. The results have been impressive with about 10,000 students in Harlem’s pipeline. The organization relies heavily on data analysis, measuring nearly 600 different factors. The goal is delivering high school graduation rates over 99% with 97% accepted to college.
Following Harlem’s model one of Mosaic’s first actions was to create a parenting education program called Baby University over 12 years ago. Kelly Kaiser is the Executive Director of “Baby U.” “We believe the problems everyone is trying to solve in the poverty community are best solved before they start. Baby U is the ultimate upstream, the pregnant mother.” Frederick Douglas said, “It is easier to raise strong children, than to fix broken adults.” That is our goal.”
The Mosaic Family Zone will continue to incorporate the practice of Collective Impact, which is the commitment of a group of key people from different organizations to a common agenda for solving the challenges faced by families in the Old Sound End. “We work closely with other organizations and residents in the neighborhood including the Toledo Public Schools, the Historic South Initiative, and the Broadway Corridor Coalition among others. It takes a village to develop this village” according to Kelly Kaiser, Executive Director of Baby University, an affiliate of the Mosaic Family Zone.
About Mosaic Family Zone
The Family Zone incorporates Community Health Workers, Mobility Mentors and volunteers to help families set goals, access resources and form the connections needed to overcome poverty. Some steps include one to one support for GED, child and teen mentoring. The first step in this pipeline is the highly successful Baby University; a parenting education focused on proven measures to promoting family stability.
Baby U has graduated over 900 parents in its 12-year existence. Parents learn the best practices for raising children. The children, in turn are prepared for kindergarten. The focuses are on reading to children every day, learning to discipline in productive ways, getting appropriate healthcare and healthy coping with family stress. Baby U graduates are then invited to attend a quality Early Learning Center such as the one the Mosaic offers.
Geoffrey Canada media:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY2l2xfDBcE
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/magazine/the-harlem-project.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNI2CHuyV18
https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066367_2066369_2066100,00.html
Media Contact:
David Kaiser
Executive Director – Mosaic Family Zone
419.344.5844
860 Orchard Street
Toledo, OH 43609
Mosaicfamilyzone.com