ABC: Autonomy, Belonging, Community!

Keene Housing Kids Collaborative is working to help low income children reach their full potential. We give kids access to opportunities that lead to success at home, in school and in the community.
 
        We do this by connecting Keene Housing kids to existing opportunities in the community – at no cost to their families – that will give them the skills, competence and knowledge to succeed
 
        In 2019, we made it possible for 276 children to participate in more than 760 separate activities in the community related to the arts, athletics and academics. These activities give kids the chance to develop transferrable skills like teamwork, perseverance, goal setting, communication, and confidence.
 
        By giving kids access to programming in the community, children from low income households have the opportunity to be an active part of the community, build social capital with their peers, and come into contact with caring adult mentors.
 
        Investment in childhood results in economic returns for the community when that child reaches adulthood. For example, a recent study conducted in NH by the Rand Corporation estimated that every $1 invested in preschool for a low income child would return a savings of $4 in adulthood. This is based on higher economic productivity, reduced incidence of crime, less reliance on social safety net programs and improved health outcomes.
 
        Out of school activities give kids a chance to develop life skills like confidence, teamwork, communication, perseverance and goal setting. These are the things that the Kids Collaborative is really aiming for in getting our kids into activities – we know these are transferrable skills that kids can take with them into the classroom and the community.
 
        The future of our community depends on the ability of all children to become contributing, successful adult members of our community. The Kids Collaborative is working to ensure that kids living in low income households have the same opportunities to become fully engaged and contributing members of our community now and in adulthood. 

In  In 2020, we adapted our service delivery to focus on ensuring that students living in Keene Housing households had access to remote learning. With the closure of public spaces like the library, coffee shops and restaurants, the availability of open wifi has been considerably reduced, widening the access gap between households who can afford internet and those that cannot. We worked throughout 2020 and continuing in 2021, to ensure that a reliable and adequate internet connection is available at home for students, and that they have a device on which to do schoolwork.