Right from the Start Coalition Launch

The first years of a child’s life are crucial in laying a solid foundation for all the social, emotional and cognitive learning yet to come. Given Maine’s current and future demographic challenges, we need each and every baby to grow up to his or her full potential. At the first meeting of the Right from the Start Coalition, we (the Maine Children's Alliance and others) discussed how we intend to make early childhood a priority issue in the 2018 gubernatorial race, presented new polling data on how Mainers feel about early childhood education, and talked about how we can move forward as a strong coalition. We were pleased that John Shoos, Executive Director of the Sam L. Cohen Foundation, and Laurie Lachance, President of Thomas College, were guest presenters at this inaugural event. We thank everyone who was there to support the work of this crucial Coalition! For more information on how you can participate in this initiative, please contact Rita Furlow, Senior Policy Analyst at the Maine Children’s Alliance, rfurlow@mekids.org.