Brilliant Detroit provides learning hubs to help nurture early childhood development
Brilliant Detroit provides learning hubs to help nurture early childhood development
You’ve heard the saying before that it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a neighborhood to nurture one, and since 2015 that’s exactly what Cindy Eggleton, her co-founders and Brilliant Detroit have been doing in a unique way that’s gaining national attention.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - You’ve heard the saying before it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a neighborhood to nurture one.
And since 2015, that’s exactly what Cindy Eggleton, her co-founders and Brilliant Detroit have been doing in a unique way that’s gaining national attention.
"We’ve had 21 cities reach out to us in four countries," said Eggleton.
When you think about children - consider the resources they need to thrive, not just at home, but in school and eventually as adults. Consider their environment and whether it helps develop skills like reading, writing, public speaking and more.
"Zip codes typically predict whether a kid is going to achieve in school in life feel good about themselves," she said. "They do, they just do (but) we’re changing that."
By design, this is what Brilliant Detroit does.
"We repurpose a house and make that house into a hub," Eagleton said. "Think about that place you went to as a child that doesn’t exist anymore you find that here and you find everything you need to be successful in life."
The idea here is to nurture early childhood development by creating neighborhood family centers. They have everything kids and families need to succeed. right inside.
"The doors are open in every neighborhood at different hours," she said. "They’re based on what the neighborhood asks us for. That could be 9 a.m. to 7 oclock in one neighborhood. It could be 10 to 8 in another.
"It’s at least five days a week and in some cases it is six days a week. The neighborhood helps tell us."
In essence, these brilliant homes help create what she calls "kid success neighborhoods."
On the map right now there are 18 different homes are spread out across Detroit waiting to serve you. They offer health and family support services, tutoring, to mentorship and professional training, they vary.
"You can come to something for yourself as an adult, for yourself as a kid, or yourself with your kid together," she said. "What we hear is, 'I'm learning right alongside my kids.'"
Right now, the Brilliant Detroit, its partners, and their countless volunteers need your help stuffing backpacks to contribute to children's success.
"We have a drive that’s lasting until next week and we’ve had lots of people reach out and do that," she said "Now imagine across the city, everywhere you go and every district, you can come get what you need (for school) so it is a level playing field."
If you would like to help, go to brilliantdetroit.org
