Vital Connections

Vital Connections of the Midlands is a non-profit organization created in 2002 whose mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of young children, especially those in need. Vital Connections provides high quality early education and parent education services that help support families and children's early brain development during the critical years of infancy to age 5.
 
Vital Connections of the Midlands serves as an umbrella organization for the development of early childhood centers in communities that lack high quality, nationally accredited programs. Support services provided to the centers are comparable to those a school district office provides to schools; such as, accounting, human resources, partnership linking, resource development, employee health benefits, training and technical assistance from early childhood experts. 
 
The first Vital Connections center, Arthurtown Child Development Center in Columbia, is located in a Habitat for Humanity community and serves up to 60 children, ages 6 weeks to age 5. The center was one of the pilot sites for the statewide pre-kindergarten program and has been recognized as rating among the highest in the state on Environment Rating Scale assessments (ECERS). 
 
On February 14, 2003, Vital Connections, partnered with New Horizon Family Care Center, to open Tender Years Child Development Center in the rural community of Hopkins, just off of Lower Richland Boulevard. Built by United Way of the Midlands with community support and individual donations, the center serves up to 70 children.
 
On June 2, 2003, Vital Connections assumed management of the Columbia Federal Child Development Center. The center will serve up to 70 children, at least 50% of whom are dependents of federal employees.
 
All three Vital Connection of the Midlands child care programs are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. They are three of South Carolina's less than 160 early childhood centers that have received accreditation by NAEYC. In the 20 years since NAEYC accreditation was established, it has become a widely recognized sign of high quality in early childhood education programs with more than 11,000 accredited programs nationally, serving almost one million children.
 
The centers currently provide care for a total of just under 150 children. The centers accept children on ABC Vouchers and also offer child care scholarships through a generous grant funded by United Way of the Midlands.
 
For more information contact: Penny Danielson, executive director of Vital Connections of the Midlands @ 733-5418.