Executive Summary

Early education for children and economic mobility for families is the path to overcoming generational poverty. GFS creates these opportunities by offering a continuum of caregiving, early education, family engagement, and workforce development services driven by community-based values of economic well-being, collective action, and neighborhood belonging. Its vision is to advance equity and social justice by building the family’s capacity to advocate for themselves and their children in order to bring about individual, community, and systems change.

In the face of adversity, GFS’s resilience and that of its families has been remarkable. It pivoted from regular programming to rapid response, shifting to virtual, and later, hybrid mode due to lingering effects of the pandemic, equipping its staff and families with computers and digital literacy training as it slowly ramped up its programs in the era of COVID. It became the site of a national economic mobility pilot project to train residents as childcare entrepreneurs and family day care providers in order to expand the availability of childcare while uplifting their voices and resiliency through leadership and advocacy training, peer networking, and community building.

GFS continues to develop and implement innovative programs, build strategic partnerships, and advocate for systems change that promotes equity and social justice. It still envisions a community where all children have access to quality early care and education; families have the knowledge, tools and resources to advocate for themselves and their children; and the systems that support children and families respect them as equal partners and contributors.

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