GCH foundation grant to Starfish helps children grow up strong

GCH Heritage Foundation is helping Starfish Family Services to the tune of $65,000.

The local foundation presented a grant of $65,000 to Starfish Family Services in support of the Maternal and Early Childhood programs offered to residents of Inkster and the surrounding communities.

“Our organization admires Starfish’s well-regarded work in the area of early intervention services and therapies for developmental delays in young children. We wanted to support this essential work,” said Gary Ley, executive director of GCH Heritage Foundation. It is anticipated that this grant will help expand access to services for children that are not often covered by insurance or not as readily available in the community.”

Services supported by the grant include behavioral, social-emotional and cognitive assessments for young children. Multi-specialty professionals will work together to assess family needs and link kids to services that help prepare them and their families for school success.

“Assessing young children before they show noticeable signs of developmental delays allows us to intervene early and reduce the likelihood that children will need special education services,” said Ann Kalass, CEO of Starfish. The Maternal and Early Childhood programs are among many services Starfish provides to help kids have a healthy start in their formative years.

The GCH Heritage Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation, committed to building healthier communities through philanthropic efforts that focus on new, creative methods of providing health care and social services, with an emphasis for children under 18. The foundation was originally a subsidiary of Garden City Hospital, but became independent and re-purposed itself after the hospital was sold to Prime Healthcare, a for-profit entity. Proceeds from the sale created the initial capital funding the Foundation. For more information, contact Ley at admin@gchheritage.org.

Founded in 1963, Starfish Family Services is a private, nonprofit agency serving vulnerable children and families in metro Detroit. It focuses on early childhood development. Starfish strives to prepare young children for a successful start to school. In addition to early childhood services, it offers parenting programs, children’s mental health services, after-school programs, and other youth services, including an emergency shelter for teens and youth in crisis. Its contact is Shalina Rankin, Marketing & Communications manager, at srankin@sfish.org; www.starfishonline.org.