LARGE FREDDIE MAC FOUNDATION GRANT HELPS CHILDCARE CENTER SERVE THE MOST AT-RISK ALEXANDRIA CHILDREN WITH FREE SERVICES

Center Started by Public Housing Moms Expands to New Location

Alexandria, VA – The Child and Family Network Centers (CFNC) and the Freddie Mac Foundation announced the grand opening of the newest CFNC site in the West End of Alexandria, Virginia. The site, made possible in part by a $350,000 grant from the Freddie Mac Foundation, offers full day, nationally accredited preschool education and a range of social services. With the addition of this site, CFNC now serves 172 very low-income families. During the event, the Foundation surprised CFNC by committing another $100,000, which will enable CFNC to expand its services to 204 families in the near future.

“The Freddie Mac Foundation’s continued support has helped us open this West End location, reaching more children in need. The Foundation's belief in us has made our work possible, and we are honored to call them our partner,” said Barbara Mason, executive director, CFNC. “With the Foundation’s investment, more children will start kindergarten ready to learn and more parents will have access to services that prepare them to succeed in parenting, employment and life.”

“The visionary mothers who created CFNC after their children failed kindergarten have ensured that thousands of local children face brighter futures,” said Maxine B. Baker, president and CEO, Freddie Mac Foundation. “Today, CFNC provides outstanding services to children and families who need it most, helping children succeed and creating lasting change in our community. We are proud to share in their success.”

“The Child and Family Network Centers has a long tradition in Alexandria of providing support and education to our community's most underserved, the children,” said Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA). “With the Freddie Mac Foundation's support, CFNC is helping children believe in themselves and succeed.”

With this most recent Foundation grant, CFNC has expanded and now meets the needs of 172 children, representing a 46 percent increase in children served. This newest site at the West End of Alexandria near Landmark Mall, ensures that 32 additional children – and soon up to 64 – attend preschool and their families receive a range of important services offered by the center – at no charge. The grant will also enable CFNC add new childcare slots in South Arlington in 2006.

CFNC, formerly the Alexandria Community Network Preschool, is a community-based, nonprofit organization started in 1984 by a group of mothers living in public housing whose children all failed kindergarten. CFNC's six nationally accredited preschools are located right in the neighborhoods where the families live. The program serves young, single mothers who need support in gaining parenting skills, as well as immigrants from Central and South America with limited English skills.

Specifically, CFNC preschools serve neighborhoods that have the highest concentration of families living in poverty in Alexandria. One hundred percent of CFNC students come from homes where the family income qualifies them for the USDA free lunch program, meaning they make less than 130 percent of the poverty level. The families served by CFNC often reflect generations of welfare dependency. CFNC also serves neighborhoods with the highest concentration of Latino families, whose average per capita income is $7,306 annually.

In addition to filling a critical need for early childhood education, the center offers speech/language therapy, psychological assessments, occupational therapy, health care, dental, hearing and vision screenings. Bilingual social workers provide case management; parenting classes and other workshops; individual, group and family counseling. Parents are also hired as classroom assistants to help improve their parenting skills, as well as gain new career opportunities. CFNC’s Family Child Care and Job Training Programs provide technical assistance, training, and support to low-income women interested in careers in home childcare, elder care, and more.

The CFNC and Freddie Mac Foundation partnership spans over a decade, with Foundation investments totaling more than $1.5 million. The Freddie Mac Foundation focuses on strengthening families by preventing child abuse and neglect, helping find foster children adoptive homes, and developing youth by providing funds for non-profit organizations serving children and their families, including CFNC.

Created by Freddie Mac in 1991, the Freddie Mac Foundation is dedicated to opening the doors to hope and opportunity to children and their families. As the largest corporate funder in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation have invested more than $320 million to help children and families.