First 5 Contra Costa partners with organizations in East County to reform the systems and services available to African American and Black families to improve wellness and help address inequities that contribute to school readiness disparities.
The Ready Kids East County (RKEC) effort, a strategic public-private partnership that leverages funding from California’s Proposition 10 alongside philanthropic contributions, including from the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation, launched in 2019 and ushered in creative programming, resources, and services available to Black families in East County. This combined support enables First 5 Contra Costa to invest in and coordinate impactful programs and services that address disparities and promote equity for Black and African American families in East Contra Costa County.
In 2025, we launched our next phase called “Womb to Classroom,” which seeks to support Black and African American families from pregnancy to school by connecting service providers to create “villages” that center Black families, and build stronger bridges over adversity “cliffs” such as the transition from early learning to a school district for Kindergarten. RKEC will support families by uplifting opportunities, creating networks, and cultivating pathways with cross-sector partnerships with the focus on building capacity for providers and families with Black and African American children, ages zero to five years old.
An incredible day in East County!
A huge thank you to all the families, community partners, and supporters who joined us for the Ready Kids East County Resource Fair on Saturday, April 12. Families had the chance to explore a wide range of valuable resources and services designed for every stage of early childhood development—from pregnancy through Kindergarten. It was inspiring to see parents and caregivers connecting with providers who are passionate about supporting the next generation.
We’d also like to give a special thank you to Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston for her ongoing dedication to uplifting families in East County and championing our Ready Kids efforts. For families that were unable to join us, or are looking for more information from the community partners in attendance, we created Ready Kids East County Resource Kit, a go-to guide full of helpful tools from the amazing partners who made the fair so special.
Bringing community partners together.
With building communities and pathways in mind, First 5 Contra Costa hosted a RKEC kick-off event on January 15 intended to increase partner awareness about the current East County landscape and some ongoing system-level efforts that will impact Black and African American families in the region.
Learn more about our Ready Kids East County efforts:
Systems Change and Capacity Building
Since its inception, Ready Kids has centered the experiences of the Black and African American community to guide its work. First 5 Contra Costa has aimed to create spaces where community members can come together, learn from one another, and build on their collective power to identify solutions and make change. The initiative also emphasizes professional development and training opportunities for a variety of service providers in East County. Over 100 individuals from a variety of service provider organizations have participated in trainings on anti-bias, anti-racist strategies in early childhood setting to incorporating anti-bias, anti-racist principles into literacy activities with young children.
Expanding African American/Black-Focused Programming
First 5 Contra Costa has partnered with several service providers to develop or adapt programming to be culturally relevant and responsive to Black and African American families in East County. For example, Tandem, Partners in Early Learning, developed a program called Lil Libraries Around Town which seeks to increase the quantity and quality of literary materials available for Black and/or African American children ages birth to five years old by creating literacy stations in barber shops. Additionally, First 5 Contra Costa partnered with Counseling Options and Parenting Education to host parent education seminars designed with culturally sensitive topics for Black and African American families and led by culturally relevant instructors
Download the Ready Kids East County Report
To learn more about Ready Kids East County, contact Jessica Keener, Program Coordinator, at jkeener@first5coco.hyperarts.com.
Ready Kids East County is in partnership with:
And made possible by generous funding from the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation
The Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation recently celebrated 30 years of being Rooted in Community to advance its mission by believing in the safety, security, and potential of every child, significantly investing in educational opportunities for those underserved, and offering the community the enrichments of the arts—see the celebration video below which includes our Ready Kids East County work.
