Champions for Children and We Are ALL Better Together Campaign
JOIN US in CELEBRATING and SUPPORTING OUR ESSENTIAL WORKERS:
During these challenging times we want you to know how much we value your partnership! Thanks to your support and the generosity of the Sewall community during COVID, Sewall has:
• Upon reopening in June at 3 sites, continued to grow our on-site services in order to provide high-quality inclusive early childhood education to as many children and families who could access as possible. By mid-fall, opened all 9 preschool sites and continued to offer remote services as appropriate.
• Established an Emergency Family Relief Fund to provide rent assistance, cleaning supplies, and technology to families in need
• Distributed 7,850 meals to over 225 families
• Provided training & support for our early childhood educators through continuing education, professional development, and holistic wellness programs.
A focus on inclusion, for which Sewall is known over the past 30 years, requires out-of-the box thinking and rearrangement of significant resources in an early childhood setting with a considerable focus on teaming and collaboration. Additionally, inclusion entails educator and therapist skills shared in a transdisciplinary manner, while building capacities, resources, and partnerships with families at a personalized level.
Sewall is fortunate to have many longstanding supporters like the Sewall Board and committee members that support this focus. This year, to celebrate almost 77 years of serving Denver, the Board and Committee members would like to engage the Sewall community with a matching gift challenge to support Sewall’s inclusion mission! The match will be a “participation match.” If 100 members of the community make a gift on or before 4/30/2021, the Sewall Board and Committees have generously offered to contribute $30,000 towards our inclusive early childhood programs. A gift of any size will count towards the match and unlock $30,000 to support our transdisiplinary staff and the children and families that Sewall serves.
If YOU and 99 others from our community make a gift today, YOU will help Sewall achieve the match and unlock $30,000 Please click on the give now button below or text “Sewall” to 50155 to make your gift today!
The $30,000 raised will allow Sewall to provide much needed resources so we continue to provide the required level of training, coaching, and supervision for teachers and therapists to support children of different abilities to be successful within classroom communities. Remember, research indicates that every $1 invested in early childhood education returns $13 in savings to society down the road (Education Commission of the States, 2017)!
Here is an example of how Sewall’s out-of-the-box thinking, and collaborative partnerships are investing in Denver’s early childhood workforce.
Sewall Board’s Magical Read Along Program
Staying connected with you, and everyone in our community, is a priority. Undoubtedly, that has been hard given the current restrictions on large gatherings and social distancing mandates. In an effort to connect, members of Sewall’s Board of Directors’ and Program Committee are creating a virtual library of read aloud video stories to share.
We are delighted to offer a fun new program online: Sewall Magical Read Aloud. Sewall friends who are board members and committee members share their favorite stories. Each Monday, we will feature a favorite book read for you by a member of the Board or Program Committee. Barb Bieber (Board Member) reads Meesha Makes Friends, written by Tom Percival. Click the image above or here to watch.
VIEW LIBRARY OF VIRTUAL READ ALOUD STORIES
Judith Heumann — Friday, 4/30
Pre-program Slide Show at 11:50 AM | Program: 12 to 1 PM
Author • International Leader in the Disability Community • One of Time’s Magazine’s “100 Women of the Year”
Judith (Judy) Heumann is a lifelong advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and is an internationally recognized leader in the disability rights community. She has served as an Advisor for the U.S. State Department, The World Bank’s first Advisor on Disability and Development, and was a Ford Foundation Senior Fellow where she helped advance inclusion in the Foundation’s work.
Judy is featured in Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution and 2020 American award-winning documentary film that is available on Netflix. She is the co-author of Being Heumann “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.”
Ian Watlington, a previous Sewall speaker on many occasions, is a Denver native and nationally acclaimed advocate now living in Washington, DC. He is an advocate, policy wonk, fighter, thinker and changer, and we are fortunate to have him as moderator. Together they will discuss Judy’s journey with exclusion and inclusion and address several issues pertinent to education and parenting.
Our Mission
Sewall is committed to providing inclusive, joyful learning environments that use the power of partnerships, diversity and belonging to enrich the social and academic growth of every child and family.
Click the button above or text “Sewall” to 50155 to make a donation.
Supporters of Sewall who reside in Colorado and file Colorado state taxes qualify for a 50{3636cb0a451a12ed88382a3e0ed28b2223ede70e167d2b3efd87582f6f12e3da} state income tax credit in addition to the regular state and federal income tax deductions. All cash gifts qualify for the Colorado Child Care Contribution Credit (CCCC).