What do North Carolinians Want for their future

Over 90 Delegates Attend Smart Investing Forum to Address The Question: What Do North Carolinians Want for Their Children and the State?

The Region A Partnership for Children hosted a new public engagement initiative on Thursday, November 19, 2009 in Waynesville at the Haywood County Offices from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. to help establish what North Carolina communities want for their youngest children and the future of the state. The forum, funded by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation with participation and leadership from North Carolina Partnership for Children – Smart Start, brought together a diverse mix of more than ninety citizen delegates to begin a new dialogue about early education and children’s health in North Carolina.

“Among our ninety plus delegates were parents, business leaders, health care providers, education professionals and policy makers from throughout western North Carolina,” said Janice Edgerton, Executive Director of the Region A Partnership for Children. “The local forum in Waynesville included invitees of Smart Start Partnerships from Region A as well as Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell/Yancey, Rutherford/ Polk, and Transylvania. The day was an opportunity for delegates to learn, share and find common ground regarding what the children of North Carolina need to thrive. We all know and appreciate that communities thrive when children thrive.”

Three, larger summits will take place in early 2010 in Asheville, Durham, and Greenville. The larger summits will be an opportunity to build on the lessons learned from the smaller forums conducted throughout the state. “The goal of this effort is to assist in informing and developing public policy to better prepare our young children for success in school and life,” stated Edgerton. To learn more about this public engagement work, please visit www.smartinvestingnc.org

About Region A Partnership for Children
The Region A Partnership for Children administers North Carolina’s Smart Start and More at Four initiatives in the seven westernmost counties of the state and on the Qualla Boundary. The overall goal of the Partnership is to ensure that all children arrive at school healthy and prepared to succeed.