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Healthcare Network
News Resources

Healthcare Network: The Power of Access and Community Health

When you think of a community initiative centered primarily on education, your first guesses of likely partners may not include healthcare providers. However, engaging the medical community has been key to pursuing Future Ready Collier’s priorities. Healthcare Network, founded in Immokalee in 1977, today operates approximately 20 practices throughout Collier County, as well as two mobile units and telehealth. As a community health center, their scope encompasses pediatric through adult primary care, dental, women’s health, and integrated behavioral health—a collaborative form of care where medical providers and behavioral health providers work together to address physical mental and emotional needs. It is their ability to interact with families and children daily that underscores Healthcare Network’s contributions.

Posted by Caroline Ridgway
GN Fire Intern
College & Career News

The Greater Naples Chamber: Connecting Education to Workforce through Work-Based Learning

When Future Ready Collier was formalized, it was as a strategic offshoot of the Greater Naples Chamber’s Opportunity Naples initiative. This effort identified a need to assign resources to support students throughout their primary education. In the intervening years, the Chamber has retained a meaningful role in Future Ready Collier. Specifically, helping to steer conversations about work-based learning and facilitating transitions from school to career. Meaningfully, the Chamber’s board approved establishing a full-time staff position dedicated to exploring relevant partnerships with employers, and upholding schools in their efforts to deliver new meaningful work-related experiences for students.

Posted by Caroline Ridgway
UPSTART family with diploma
Early Learning Resources

Waterford UPSTART School-Readiness Program Offered Free to Collier County Families

Collier County families with children who will enter kindergarten during the 2020-2021 school year may be eligible to apply for free access to the Waterford UPSTART Summer Learning Path school-readiness program. Active across 15 states, UPSTART reaches the most at-risk kids in a community. In addition, program leaders are hoping to reach families whose income, employment, or access to federally funded preschool have been impacted by COVID-19.

Posted by Caroline Ridgway
Boys and Girls Club - meal distribution
News Resources Success Stories

The Boys & Girls Club of Collier County: Adapting in a Time of Need

On any given day during what we might now refer to as “normal” times, the Boys & Girls Club of Collier County would welcome 400 to 500 kids at their Immokalee facility, and 500 to 600 in Naples. The Collier County Boys & Girls Club, like its affiliates nationwide, provides an after-school and summer sanctuary for students. Programs encompass mentorship, academic learning, physical wellbeing, and personal development. The model embraced by the Boys & Girls Club is intended to provide essential supports for children who may for any reason lack access to that foundational structure in their personal and home lives. What’s more, it’s been shown to work.

Posted by Caroline Ridgway
Miss Kellie's ChildCare, Cape Coral
Early Learning News Resources

The Early Learning Coalition: Fostering Collaboration with Future Ready Collier

If an objective of early childhood education is helping kids learn the value of sharing and partnership, then a collective impact model is a real-world extension of that ideological premise. As the nonprofit tasked with distributing state funds for early learning providers regionally, the Early Learning Coalition is an essential partner in fostering the collaboration and momentum that are carrying Future Ready Collier steadily towards real change. Links between early learning and school readiness, through to career training and a thriving economy, are undeniable. The Early Learning Coalition lends expertise and vital community-level connection points to the initiative.

Posted by Caroline Ridgway
young girl reading
Early Learning Resources

Healthcare Network Provider Co-authors New Child’s Activity and Coloring Book

The Florida State University Center for Child Stress and Health published a new coloring and activity book, The Germ that Wears a Crown: A Story About the Coronavirus. Co-author Dr. Javier Rosado, who is the Director of Clinical Research for the FSU Center for Child Stress and Health located at the Immokalee Health Education Site, also works as a psychologist with the Healthcare Network. The Healthcare Network is a Future Ready Collier partner.

Posted by Caroline Ridgway
Graduate in cap facing away from camera
College & Career Resources

Resources for High School Students – Financial Aid, College Admissions, and More

A high level of uncertainty is unsettling, but doesn’t mean there aren’t options. High school seniors, especially, are wondering what’s next. There are questions like, what if I can’t attend college out-of-state next year, and what if my family’s finances have changed since I applied? For juniors, there are concerns about standardized testing, and what post-high school plan makes the most sense. There are resources available to help students and their families navigate each of these important topics.

Posted by Caroline Ridgway
Young people in computer lab
College & Career Resources

Introducing a Free, Online FAFSA Tutorial

This video tutorial helps walk high school students and their families through the step-by-step process of completing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application. Each year, FAFSA applications open on October 1. Students are encouraged to submit as soon as possible for the greatest access to available financial aid and scholarships. Students and their families may view this free, online tutorial as many times as needed.

Posted by Caroline Ridgway
College & Career Early Learning News Resources

Collier County Public Schools eLearns!

Collier County County Public Schools (CCPS) is committed to supporting children and families in continuous learning. When the schools are closed for any reason, CCPS encourages parents and caregivers to have students engage in academic activities with a structured schedule. As such, the CCPS Curriculum and Instruction Division has developed lessons and resources to ensure learning is continuous.

Posted by Kristin Peras