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BENTON HARBOR — Flowers Early Learning, formerly known as Tri-County Head Start, is giving members of the community the opportunity to take a look inside their operations.

The organization, which has been providing early education and other resources to families in Berrien, Van Buren, and Cass Counties since 1952, recently held the third in a series of ongoing facility tours. The most recent tour, held at their Cassopolis location, highlighted the classrooms and other facilities, as well as provided an overview of services provided by Flowers.

“Our hope is to have a tour at each and every site,” said Development Director, Maureen Ovington.

Those participating in the tour were able to visit multiple classrooms and hear stories from teachers, family advocates, and administrators at Flowers about their mission, their successes, and their needs.

Danielle Persky, who serves on the Flowers board, as well as serving as the Health Officer for the Van Buren/Cass District Health Department, emphasized the impact of early childhood education and support on the future health of children and the general well being of entire communities.

“This is it,” Persky said, pointing out the classroom. “This is a really neat opportunity that the group has put together for a fun way to make sure that we’re helping the community understand the impact and the scope and the breadth of the really great work that happens at Flowers.”

Flowers Early Learning provides a variety of services to children from birth until age three, then transitions them into their head start program until they enter elementary school. The offerings go beyond education and general school readiness. The program brings in health providers for dental, vision, and hearing screenings. Meals, specific infant formulas, diaper supplies, and potty training are all included as part of the program. Children learn skills such as relationship building and are worked with on behavioral problems.

One teacher recounted the story of a child who started the program throwing items and pushing and hitting teachers. Flowers has a “no expulsion” policy and instead worked with the child to improve the behavior. Years later, the teacher encountered the child again while onboarding a younger sibling and described their behavior as friendly and polite.

Their Millburg location offers “The Backyard”, an eight acre space that emphasizes the exploration of nature and offers children the opportunity to work with live chickens.

Family Advocates from Flowers assist with the application and registration processes, as well as helping the family set goals and find ways to improve their lives and accomplish tasks like opening a savings account and getting a driver’s license. One advocate recounted the tale of assisting a parent who had been working in the fast food industry. He helped them create their first resume and they were able to find a job in the banking world, eventually moving up to overseeing loans.

Flowers serves family style meals, offering sit-down meals during which the children learn to share and properly portion food so that everyone at the table is able to eat. According to Executive Director Chanda Hillman, they provide 100,000 meals and snacks each year.

Hillman shared her own personal story of the benefit of head start programs, which allowed her the ability to return to school to finish her Masters degree and helped identify and serve a speech delay with one of her children.

She first worked with Flowers as a parent member of the policy council, which shares governance with the Board of Directors and gives parents a voice on all decisions that go before the board.

Flowers Early Learning currently serves around 600 children in Berrien, Van Buren, and Cass Counties. Hillman described the need as much higher, with long waiting lists and families struggling to find services or having to drive long distances to receive them. 

The staff described a variety of needs in order to better serve the local population, including additional funding, up-to-date facilities, and volunteers and advocates from the community to assist in the classrooms and to spread the word about their work.

“We do envision a future in Cassopolis expanding our services,” said Hillman.

Flowers Early Learning is currently looking at initiatives to assist them in expanding in the future. It is their hope to have the community be a part of the conversation and efforts by having these tours. Additional tours are scheduled for their facilities in Benton Harbor, New Buffalo, Bangor, Decatur, Dowagiac, Niles, and Millburg. Additional information can be found at flowersearlylearning.org.