Early Childhood Alliance

🎉👏 🚲 Congratulations to The Governor's Traffic Safety Committee of New York, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, the Town of Onondaga, Town of Onondaga Parks & Recreation, the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office, the Onondaga County Traffic Safety Advisory Board, and all of the incredible partners who helped bring Onondaga County's first Traffic Garden to life at Anthony J. Santaro Memorial Park!

This innovative space gives children the opportunity to build confidence and practice bicycle and pedestrian safety skills through hands-on play—helping create safer roads and stronger communities for years to come.

We're proud that Talk, Read, Sing Onondaga helped celebrate this exciting milestone by bringing a bicycle safety-themed StoryWalk® to the event, showing how reading together can reinforce important safety lessons while creating meaningful parent-child interactions.

Thank you to everyone whose vision, partnership, and support made this exciting project possible. We look forward to seeing children and families enjoy this wonderful new community resource for years to come!

🧡 Every child deserves the support they need to thrive—and your voice can help make that happen.

If you're a parent, caregiver, educator, provider, or advocate, the Kids Can't Wait NYS Campaign wants to hear from you.

Take the "Share Your Dreams" Survey to help improve access to Early Intervention, Preschool Special Education, and inclusive child care across New York State.

Whether you've navigated these services yourself or simply want to see every child get the support they need, your perspective matters.

📝 The survey takes about 10 minutes, is available in English and Spanish, and closes Monday, July 13, at 11:59 p.m.

🔗 English: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CSPJN5P
🔗 Español: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P9CT2WG

🎣 Smiles, sunshine, and special moments made for an unforgettable day at our 2nd Annual Fishing with Dads event! ☀️🐟

It was wonderful to see children and the important adults in their lives spending quality time outdoors, learning something new, and creating memories that will last long after the last fish was caught.

Thank you to our Parent Advisory Council (PAC) Executive Committee, PAC member and parent leader Malik Scott, our volunteers, and all the families who made the day so special. We can't wait to do it again!

Take a look at some of our favorite photos from the day. 📸💙

We're honored to be featured in the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York's 2025 Annual Report.

The story highlights efforts to strengthen access to early childhood supports across New York State and features Help Me Grow Onondaga and our partners at Oswego County Help Me Grow as examples of how communities are helping connect families to the resources they need.

We're grateful to the Health Foundation for its support of this work and its ongoing commitment to improving outcomes for young children and families.

Read the story: https://annualreport.hfwcny.org/stories/imagining-better-access-to-early-childhood-support-in-new-york/

Nonprofit organizations are known for their resilience and determination. “Making it work” in the face of inconsistent funding, limited resources, and increasing need is common for community-based providers. This was true even before the drastic shifts in public funding and policy we witnessed in 2025.

Nonprofits have always been an essential part of delivering the health and social services that hold our community together. But the nonprofit sector has been undervalued and under-resourced for decades. That disinvestment has left those important agencies, and the sector as a whole, vulnerable in moments like this.

The inevitable results of that instability will be fractured and disappearing services, increased costs for care and services, and a sicker community.

We have the opportunity in this moment not to just fix current problems or fill in gaps, but to work together to create a better future for the long run.

✨Instead of retrofitting services for older adults and their caregivers, let’s keep building health systems where respecting their needs and perspectives is standard practice.

✨Instead of individual nonprofits working on their own with few resources, let’s keep breaking down silos so agencies can share their strengths, learn from each other, and deliver care more effectively—together.

✨Instead of patchwork, hard-to-get services for parents and young children, let’s keep advocating for policies, funding, and infrastructure so that every child receives the care they need to thrive.

✨Instead of widening the disparities in our health care system based on race, class, and neighborhood, let’s keep strengthening community health centers where high-quality, affordable care is for everyone.

We invite you to explore our 2025 annual report—and to imagine better.

🔗 https://annualreport.hfwcny.org/

Thank you to the nonprofit partners who contributed their voices to this report:

Association of Health Care Journalists, ECMC's Buffalo Rising Against Violence Trauma Recovery Center (BRAVE TRC) and Population Health team, The Center of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease at SUNY Upstate Medical University, The Chautauqua Center, Early Childhood Alliance Onondaga, Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition Jericho Road Community Health Center, Healthcare Association of New York State, Integrated Community Planning of Oswego County, Inc. , Integrity Partners for Behavioral Health, Liftoff WNY, Impact HQ fueled by NSG (Nonprofit Support Group), Oswego County Office for the Aging, and REACH CNY, Inc.

Big news for Onondaga County families!

Thanks to more than $55 million in new state funding, the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) waitlist will reopen, helping hundreds of families access affordable child care and ensuring continued support for nearly 5,000 children across our community.

This investment recognizes what families, providers, employers, and community leaders know: child care is essential infrastructure. When families can access affordable care, children thrive, parents can work, and communities grow stronger.

We applaud the continued commitment to strengthening our local child care system and expanding opportunities for children and families throughout Onondaga County.

PRESS RELEASE: County Executive Ryan McMahon Announces Reopening of Child Care Assistance Program

📚🎉 Congratulations to our partners at the Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County on an incredible milestone—distributing their 2 millionth Dolly Parton's Imagination Library book in Onondaga County!

This achievement represents millions of opportunities for children and families to build a love of reading, strengthen early literacy skills, and create meaningful moments together through books.

We were honored to join community partners in celebrating this remarkable accomplishment and the lasting impact the Imagination Library continues to have on young children throughout our community.

📖 Here's to the next million books and the bright futures they help inspire! 💙

This week, we joined partners from across the country in Boston for the Reach Out and Read Early Relational Health (ERH) Measures Task Force Meeting.

We know that strong relationships are the foundation for healthy child development, and we're grateful for opportunities to connect, learn, and collaborate with ERH experts and parent leaders from across the country.

🌟 Our 2025 Annual Report is Here! 🌟

This year's report reflects a year of collaboration, progress, and continued commitment to young children and families across Onondaga County. Together, we elevated family and provider voices, expanded access to supports, and strengthened the connections that help children and families thrive.

Dive into the full report to explore the stories, milestones, and impact behind our work: https://www.ecaonondaga.org/post/2025-annual-report

Thank you to the families, providers, partners, advocates, and supporters who make this work possible. Your commitment continues to strengthen our community and create brighter futures for young children and families.

2025 Annual Report Learn more about the ECA Onondaga’s collective efforts to mobilize resources in support of children and families during 2025. Read our annual report here.

🎉 Exciting News for New York Families! 🎉

Herkimer County is the newest Help Me Grow affiliate in New York State!

Help Me Grow Herkimer County, an initiative of the Herkimer County Public Health Department, marks another important step toward statewide adoption of the Help Me Grow model and represents a meaningful investment in the well-being of young children and families.

Our Executive Director was honored to attend the formal launch earlier this week and celebrate alongside community leaders, partners, and advocates committed to helping children and families thrive.

Congratulations to Herkimer County and all of the partners who made this milestone possible. Together, community by community, we are creating brighter futures for children across New York.

We may be a day late, but we couldn’t let the moment pass without saying… Happy Birthday, Head Start! 🎉❤️

For generations, Head Start has helped children and families thrive through early learning, health support, and strong community connections. Its impact continues to shape brighter futures for children right here in our community and across the country.

We’re grateful for the educators, families, and advocates who carry this mission forward every day. Thank you for all you do to support children during their earliest and most important years!

🎉 Happy Birthday, Head Start!

For 61 years, Head Start has supported children and families through early learning, health, nutrition, and family engagement. This work has helped build strong foundations for lifelong success in communities across the country.

We are proud to be part of this legacy and to continue supporting children and families every day through high-quality early childhood services.