Community Partners
Making a difference in children’s lives requires a community effort. At Columbus Early Learning Centers we partner with other community organizations to enrich our program and provide services that would otherwise be inaccessible for our families. Funding organizations, donors, partner agencies, and our early learning program work together to build a strong foundation for children’s success.
- Action for Children provides professional development opportunities for staff.
- We partner with Bridgeway Academy to provide childcare services at their school and therapy center.
- Besa matches us with engaged community members to volunteer at our centers.
- Broad Street Food Pantry sponsors a ’CELC Family Night’ once a month for the families of our students to visit the pantry.
- Our Broad Street Center is located in Broad Street Presbyterian Church.
- Catholic Social Services brings foster grandparents to our preschool classes for the summer.
- CELC partners with Central Community House, a settlement house that serves the near east and near south neighborhoods of Columbus.
- CELC partners with the Child Development Council of Franklin County to provide Head Start services.
- The Columbus City Schools collaborate with CELC to provide pre-k at the Linden Park Neighborhood Early Childhood Education Center.
- Columbus Diaper Bank provides diapers and wipes to CELC families.
- Columbus Speech and Hearing Center provides speech and hearing assessments.
- Early Start Columbus, a program of the city of Columbus, provides tuition-free pre-k to four and five-year-olds in the Columbus City School district.
- In partnership with the Ohio State University, Food for Long Life brings nutritional education and food access to preschool students at our Champion Avenue center.
- Local Matters brings food education and cooking-based activities to our students at all of our centers.
- The students at our Champion Avenue Center participate in a variety of activities with the clients of National Church Residences. This Champion Intergenerational Center is made possible through our partners at the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), The Ohio State University, and Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT).
- CELC partners with The Ohio State University to provide Early Head Start services.
- The Ohio Arts Council sponsors our Preschool Poets Program, hosted by artist-in-residence Nancy Kangas. Their poems have been featured in a series of short films pairing the kids’ words with animations.
- Through volunteer support, Seeds of Caring helps our family support programming.
- The United Way of Central Ohio graciously provides programming support.
I get to be a part of a preschool class on Wednesday mornings and I love every minute. The class is eager to discover and soak-up new concepts. They are excited to participate in reading, ask insightful questions and are making great progress. It is a privilege to be a part of it!
Amanda, Speech-Langauge Patholigist