Perspective – Thoughts from the Field
ECE NewsWatch had a chance to chat with Heather Filipowicz, Executive Director of The WNY Women’s Foundation. Here, Heather provides a glimpse into her work with women and girls in Buffalo, and shows how organizations such as hers are making a difference in communities.
ECE NewsWatch (ENW): There seems to be an adequate number of child care providers in the counties of Erie and Niagara for working parents to choose from, although it’s a bit shocking to hear that only about 1% of those providers have been accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young children. What steps is WNY taking to inform parents about the importance of quality, early childhood education?
Heather Filipowicz (HF): Currently in Western NY there is no uniform standard or system to access or improve programs. The WNY Women’s Foundations believes in quality child care and early intervention. In order to achieve this, we work to:
- Promote healthy cognitive, behavioral and emotional development in children
- Create stability in employment – mother’s with reliable child care are significantly more likely to stay on the job than those without regular care
The Foundation continues to work to increase public awareness for the needs around childcare by convening stakeholders ranging from business leaders, providers, and funders.
ENW: QUALITYstarsNY is New York State’s new Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). Do you think implementation of this initiative might be a start to change current practice in Western New York by increasing quality and standards?
HF: Absolutely. The WNY Women’s Foundation made an initial investment in QUALITYstarsNY locally in 2010, which served as a catalyst to attract public dollars that were earmarked in the state’s 2012 budget. This new state funding will support programs that are in high-need neighborhoods where there are “Persistently Low Achieving” elementary schools.
Recently we received a $30,000 grant from HealthNow New York Inc. through the HealthNow Healthy Living Fund. This grant will provide the crucial support necessary to continue implementation of QUALITYstarsNY throughout the city of Buffalo. The HealthNow Healthy Living Fund will address funding gaps, for a total of 12 new and continuing programs to be served with this additional investment.
We feel that our support of QUALITYstarsNY is an excellent example of how public and private entities can work together as a catalyst for systemic change.
ENW: What change in public policy should Albany be looking at to improve the child care and early education initiative?
HF: The Women’s Foundation research has validated that having access to high-quality child care and education programs helps move families from welfare to employment. Quality child care and early intervention promote healthy cognitive, behavioral and emotional development in children, serving as a basis for their success in school and work.
The WNY Women’s Foundation currently advocates for a statewide policy goal for a family receiving child care subsidy dollars to spend no more than 10% of family income on child care and for access to high quality child care for all families.
We would also like to urge Governor Cuomo to include money in the State budget for QUALITYstarsNY to illustrate that this is a priority for the children of New York and their families.
ENW: How do you envision supporting Buffalo’s Birth to College initiative that focuses on children, school and career success?
HF: The goal of our Out of School Time (OST) Initiative, established by the WNY Women’s Foundation in 2011, is to provide consistent, quality after-school and summer programming. Quality OST programs are proven to improve student attendance and performance, as well as expose students to challenges and learning opportunities they would not otherwise experience during the academic day
Our OST Initiative pilot after-school program at Buffalo Public School #59, the Dr. Charles R. Drew Magnet School, is based on a national best practice model brought to Buffalo by the WNY Women’s Foundation. The program, run by our partner, the Northwest Buffalo Community Center, with support from the Buffalo Public Schools, successfully completed its first year with 100 fifth through seventh grade students enrolled. Participants in the program demonstrated meaningful, positive outcomes:
| Goal | Outcome |
| Advance to next grade level | 100 students out of 100 enrolled |
| Maintain or increase classroom grades | 79 students out of 100 enrolled |
| Increase English/Language Arts skills | 89 students out of 100 enrolled |
| Maintain or increase math skills | 77 students out of 100 enrolled |
The strong partnerships we have forged to implement the OST Initiative have been a reflection of the shared goal and strong commitment of our community to create quality after-school programming for all children. As our OST Initiative moves into year two, we are excited to be working in close collaboration with Say Yes Buffalo – as part of their birth to college approach – for our pilot program at School 59, in addition to a number of other selected after school program sites, to continue to create a model program that will eventually be implemented in all Buffalo Public Schools offering after-school programming.
Our investment in both OST programming and in QUALITYstarsNY illustrates our strong commitment to supporting youth and their families from birth to school age.
ENW: Describe your philanthropic outreach and the impact your organization is having in the communities it serves.
HF: We focus on five key areas:
- Researching the status of women and girls in our community
- Investing donor resources to mobilize seed funding for innovative programming
- Leading collaborations to develop groundbreaking solutions to be a catalyst for social change
- Educating the community and donors about issues and solutions facing women and girls
- Advocating for public policy changes that support our mission and vision
We believe that when women and girls are self-sufficient, entire communities are made stronger. In order to make systemic change, we raise money and makes grants to local community programs which exemplify this belief.
While working with existing community service providers and conducting careful research, the Foundation focuses its support in areas of the greatest need to ensure a coordinated effort aimed at benefiting as many women and girls as possible.
ENW: What is one specific goal your organization would like to accomplish within the next 5 years that would raise the bar on education in western New York? What strategies are you pursuing to achieve this goal?
HF: The WNY Women’s Foundation envisions a community in which all women and girls have the opportunity to thrive. By removing roadblocks and providing opportunities to enable women and girls to become self-sufficient, entire communities are stronger.
The Foundation currently works to Fund innovative programs that provide systematic change within these three focus areas based on the Pathways to Progress Report:
1.) Affordable, accessible, quality childcare
2) Family sustaining jobs for women and their families
3) Excellence in out-of-school time programs
We conduct careful research and work with community organizations to focus our support in the areas of greatest need and where the outcomes will be sustainable.