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Region Stories

These stories illustrate how early childhood programs and services funded by First Things First make a difference for young children and families in communities across Arizona.

Child care scholarship allows Prescott preschooler to soar

  • Quality First

​​When Dove Gunderman or Prescott decided to restart her academic journey to become a speech therapist, her youngest daughter Juliette was 4 years old. The…
boy-in-church

Quality First center helps Whiteriver toddler prepare for kindergarten

  • Quality First

Audra Cosen of Whiteriver became a single mother to five boys just as her next to youngest son, Ari, turned two.Cosen, who worked as a full-time teacher in…
kids-playing-chess

High quality preschool environment brings out the best in Goodyear girl

  • Quality First

Zoe Mullins was only 4 years old when she began beating her father at chess.“It’s not that her dad is a bad player, but that Zoe is just that good,”…
girl-smiling

Nogales mother learns how to prepare her daughter for kindergarten

  • family support

Yesenia’s baby daughter Melanie was only 18 days old when her mother enrolled in the Healthy Families Arizona program in Nogales.She was already a mom to…
girl-smiling

Nogales kindergartner finds success at family resource center

  • family support

It was a random visit to a neighborhood park where Jessica Fierro first learned about the Nogales Family Resource Center.A conversation with another parent…
brothers-smiling

Pinal brothers use Fun Van to prepare for kindergarten

  • school readiness

Eli Macias was a quiet 3 year old from Casa Grande when he started participating in the First Things First-funded mobile literacy program called Fun Van. Soon,…
child-smiling

Parents As Teachers shows Cochise County mom how to teach son independence

  • family support

First-time mom Athena Reynolds was looking for a support system.“I was clueless,” Reynolds said, thinking back to when her son Alexander was born. “I…

Oro Valley family builds confidence in role as their child’s first teacher

  • family support

​​Angie Hitt had been an elementary school teacher for eight years before she had her first child. She enrolled in the Parents as Teachers home visiting…
mom-in-class-with-kids

Family resource center empowers Phoenix boy to find independence

  • family support

Felicitas Padron of Phoenix assumed that her children’s learning started with their kindergarten teacher. The mother of three learned otherwise at the…

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