East Durham Children’s Initiative (EDCI) is an organization that provides programs for children who are struggling or failing in school.
Avilamar Castillo, EDCI Early Childhood Parent Advocate, reads to children at EDCI’s Weekly Story Hour. Photo Credit: Samantha Cole.
“Our mission is to make sure that we have kids who are prepared for college or career, academically, socially and personally as well,” said David Reese, the organization’s President and CEO.
EDCI serves approximately 3,200 children and teens who live in a 120 block area of East Durham known as the “EDCI Zone.”
“Our major goal is to prepare children ages birth to five for kindergarten,” said Ebonyse Mead, Early Childhood Program Manager. “We accomplish this task in multiple ways including home visits, story hour, parent information and building an in-home library.”
The success of a child starts within the home, and both children and parents can benefit from EDCI.
“Families benefit from these programs because these programs seek to address some of the issues and concerns that impede family stabilization,” said Mead. “Additionally, these programs benefit families because they connect families to many resources such as parent education workshops and referrals to other community agencies that they may need and help to improve educational outcomes for young children.”
EDCI provides children with a safe and healthy environment to grow mentally as well as socially.
“EDCI and the work that we do is not just about East Durham,” said Reese. “It’s not just about our 120 blocks because if we can make it work here then we can pick this model up and drop it in any part of Durham or in any similar size city across this country.”
The organization’s programs include story hour, and a parent and community advisory council for families who may not speak English, such as Latino families. Bilingual Ambassadors help the Latino families.
“Our Spanish-speaking families are very active participants on our Parent and Community Advisory Council, in Story Hours, and with our school-age and kindergarten-readiness summer camps,” said Cate Elander, Manager of Community Engagement.
EDCI’s goal is to place more focus on preparing toddlers for school.
“We really want to tackle childhood behavioral health, particularly with the toddlers, we want to continue to address kindergarten readiness and we are going to open up a Pre-K half day program for families in the EDCI zone,” said Reese. “We believe in think big or go home!”