BY5: A Community Collaborator & Convener

Since inception, BY5 has played an integral role in the community by not only ensuring a future for Delaware County’s youngest citizens, but also by acting as both a collaborator and a convener. Below are a few ways BY5 is currently involved in the larger web of the community.

BY5 truly could not be successful without strong partnerships like the ones listed. Continued collaboration between organizations and agencies will ensure all families in Delaware County can thrive.

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Muncie Community Schools

  • BY5 helps provide funding for MCS’s Kickoff to Kindergarten program. Kickoff to Kindergarten is a “jump-start” program that helps children become oriented to Kindergarten, helping them to be more successful once the school year starts.

  • BY5 was a major partner in bringing about MCS’s four Paths-to-Quality Level III pre-schools.

  • BY5 has already provided or is slated to provide a Little Free Library for every elementary school in MCS.

8Twelve Coalition

  • BY5 participates on the Education and Services Committee, which works to help 8Twelve residents connect to needed services and opportunities to help improve their quality of life. The Education and Services Committee is currently training more Family Navigators to act in the 8Twelve area, and BY5 convenes organizations with a stake in childhood development to research the needs of early childhood education in the 8Twelve area.

  • BY5 is also involved with WIPB’s Ready to Learn grant, which works to provide more science, technology, engineering, and math education to young children in under-served areas of the community. As part of these grant efforts, BY5 will provide WIPB four Little Free Libraries to place in the 8Twelve area.

  • BY5 serves on the 8Twelve Steering Committee, and the 8Twelve Coalition has worked with BY5 on the BY5 Lead Task Force. BY5 also provided books to give away to children at the 8Twelve Coalition’s Trunk or Treat event in October of 2018.

On My Way Pre-K 

  • BY5 is the lead agency for On My Way Pre-K in Delaware County, a statewide effort to roll out free pre-K to eligible 4-year-olds. On My Way Pre-K currently exists throughout 20 counties in Indiana.

  • BY5 brought together Huffer CCR&R and local childcare providers to get the word out about On My Way locally.

  • Through collaborative efforts, BY5 has been able to fill 95 pre-K spots in Delaware County.

YouthLink 

  • BY5 is now part of an exciting pilot program, YouthLink. YouthLink, facilitated by Shafer Leadership Academy, is a group of ten non-profits working to help families access services in a more effective and efficient way.

  • The program plans to work with families over the course of a year to see how a child’s connection to multiple non-profit organizations can affect the child over time.

  • Through the program, BY5 will collaborate with Shafer Leadership Academy, Boys and Girls Club of Muncie, Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Central Indiana, Motivate Our Minds, TeenWorks, Upward Bound at Ivy Tech, Project Leadership, Muncie Public Library, and Appletree YMCA.

Muncie By5