A STEPPING STONE FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
A Stepping Stone Foundation empowers two generations together through quality education programs. Understanding the importance of parents in the early years in a child's life, A Stepping Stone provides quality early learning with required parent and family literacy activities to young families who have a low level of education. While children attend preschool, parents attend classes. A Stepping Stone Foundation also provides college scholarships to former preschoolers and office internships. Finally, A Stepping Stone convenes policy makers, fundraisers, elected officials and practitioners once a quarter to network and create synergy in the Two-Generation-Education space.
About This Cause
A Stepping Stone Foundation was created in 1989 when a handful of people with large hearts and small purses began a journey to create preschool experiences for every needy child in Arizona. Believing that early education is crucial for all children, and seeing the woeful number of children not being served that would most benefit, this group decided to make a difference. The Foundation put together a "Dream Plan" for a preschool to serve four-year-old children at risk of school failure. The Isaac School District in Phoenix, Arizona indicated great need and a willingness to work with the Foundation and the rest is history! A Stepping Stone Foundation Board and Isaac School District created what was to be an award-winning program in the fall of 1990 and now, over 30 years later, A Stepping Stone Foundation has served more than 1700 families (over 5,000 people) in various Arizona school districts including: Alhambra, Isaac, and in 2022 Synergy Public Charter school. At the first year-end celebration teacher Carmen Sanchez said of her students: "We are very proud of our children and all they have accomplished this year. They have learned many practical skills such as recognizing colors, shapes and some numbers, cutting with scissors, holding a crayon or pencil, taking turns, sharing, and following directions. Along with all these important preschool skills, the children are gaining confidence and are feeling good about themselves, who they are and what they can do. Equally important, they are developing a positive attitude about school and an enthusiasm for learning. We thank you for investing in our children's futures and we assure you that you have made a difference for children and for their families." Over the 30 years that have ensued, this simple statement still reflects the core of what we do best. In recent years, a model, child-centered family literacy program called LEAF (Literacy Elevates Arizona Families) remains open in cooperation with the Alhambra and Isaac Elementary School Districts. College scholarships were established for former preschoolers in 2003, and a new initiative, Stepping into the Future, was launched in February of 2013 to help former preschoolers learn how to access other college scholarships and navigate the college application process. Since the inception, we have awarded over $360,000 in scholarships to over 160 distinct students, all former preschoolers in the LEAF program. Moving forward, A Stepping Stone Foundation is committed to building the capacity needed to scale up our model and increase our reach. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count 2021 profile, 66% of the young children in Arizona are not enrolled in any preschool. Knowing that 1 in 5 children in Arizona live below the poverty level, there is still much work to be done! A $25 donation provides one day of preschool for a needy child; a $400 donation, ($800 for couples filing jointly) which may entitle donors in Arizona to a tax credit (Tax Credit for Qualified Charitable Organizations), provides a month of preschool for one needy child. Please help us continue to educate our most needy and vulnerable children.