Nonprofits banding together during Smart Start Month

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed September as “Smart Start Month” across the state.

Smart Start is a network of 75 local nonprofits that have come together to ensure children begin school healthy and ready to succeed.

One Place in Jacksonville is doing its part in the community by helping strengthen children, connect families and end childhood abuse. Smart Start Month is a celebration of investments by the state in early childhood education.

“For the 0-5 population, there is no other time in their human life that their brains develop in the same way and the same pace as it does between the ages of 0-5,” One Place Chief Executive Officer Dawn Rochelle said. “Those foundational years are so critical in a child’s life.”

Nonprofits like One Place already help many children and Smart Start is an additional bridge that brings many services to families.

“Smart Start is really One Place’s foundational funding. What Smart Start does at its core is provide accessibility, affordability, and quality early childhood education,” Rochelle said. “So, we really partner with all the childcare centers in the community, including Onslow County Schools in bringing those services into the classrooms to help support teachers. We all know the difference teachers made in our lives.”

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