A Letter to the Community

Dear Community Members of Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties:                                              

Research shows that the first eight years of life are the building blocks to each child’s future.  The Great Start Collaborative of Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties (GOGSC) believes that the quality of our future lies with the health and education of the young children in our communities. We want to ensure that we are giving each child the building blocks to succeed.

The purpose of the Collaborative is to help support programs serving these children, provide resources, and to identify needs and gaps in services. Through this network of both public and private services and agencies, we are able to provide community based strategies, which will increase the achievement and success of our area children in school and life.

After a year of researching community data and individual feedback from around Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties, the Great Start Collaborative created a strategic plan based on what the community and families with young children have identified as priorities and needs in the area of early childhood. This plan was implemented throughout 2013-2016.  We will begin new community data collection and reserach very soon in order to create our next strategic plan. It is our hope that the strategic plan will provide a base to launch quality programming and services to ensure the successful future of young children in the important first eight years of their lives.

It takes a community to raise a child. Our sincere wish is to increase the participation of agencies, services, providers, and community members to support our children as they reach to achieve their highest potential and dreams of the future.

Sincerely,

Members of the Gogebic-Ontonagon Great Start Collaborative