Building blocks, breaking barriers in Oak Park and beyond

Oak Park has long been recognized as a standout place for its forward-thinking schools, tight-knit neighborhoods and culture of resident-led advocacy.

But 25 years ago, one group of local advocates stepped up to address a glaring gap in the community: the oversight of networking and resources for families and caregivers of children from birth to age 5.

In 2002, the Oak Park-based Collaboration for Early Childhood was founded to meet the need to develop a holistic, community-driven approach to cultivating the development of young children. It does this by engaging and connecting families, local organizations, educators and health providers. 

“At the time, a lot of people assumed real learning started in kindergarten, but our organization’s founders knew better,” said Mary Reynolds, a Forest Park resident and the nonprofit’s executive director since 2023. “New research was showing how much brain development happens in the first five years of life; economists were making the case that early childhood is one of the smartest public investments there is; and local leaders wanted every child in our schools to have a strong start.”

From the start, the agency’s  mission has been simple: help all children show up to kindergarten joyful, thriving and ready to learn. It does this by providing a community-wide support system that reaches across Oak Park and beyond, regardless of socioeconomic status.

For two decades, the Collaboration has served as a beacon for area families to call or visit with virtually any questions about their young child. Alongside training workshops for hundreds of early childhood professionals across dozens of programs throughout the area, the Collaboration hosts developmental screenings, preschool enrollment and other programs, bridging the divide between schools, local governments and health providers and creating a one-stop shop for the area’s youngest residents.

Reynolds says the easiest way to explain how the Collaboration operates is like that of a school district. 

“Once kids start kindergarten, there’s a whole system around them — one place to enroll, training for every teacher, nurses and social workers, support for kids who need extra help and leaders making sure every school is working toward the same goals,” she said. “For kids under five, that system usually doesn’t exist. 

Reynolds says that unlike the intricate network that districts typically are a part of, childcare centers, preschools, home providers, doctors and community groups historically work independently, leaving families left to piece together networks themselves. 

“That can be confusing and overwhelming at an already really tender time in a family’s development,” she said. 

For its first decade, Reynolds says the Collaboration ran largely on grants and community energy, focusing on early childhood educators and building a strategic plan for what a more connected system could resemble in Oak Park and the surrounding area. 

But in 2013, the Village of Oak Park, in collaboration with Oak Park Elementary School District 97 and Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200, approved a first-of-its-kind intergovernmental agreement to fund early childhood services locally. This was a move that led the Collaboration to build out developmental screening, coordinated preschool intake, family engagement opportunities and more. 

“Caring for our youngest kids is a promise our whole community makes together,” Reynolds said. 

Each year, the Collaboration impacts around 3,000 children and families through its screenings, enrollment supports and family events. The group supports more than 700 early childhood professionals across Oak Park and River Forest. 

Training for professionals is free or low-cost, and all family services are free — a highlight Reynolds says helps keep care equitable across local community borders. 

Through fundraising and generous donors, the Collaboration is able to extend a lot of its work into neighboring communities including Austin, Berwyn, Bellwood, Broadview, Forest Park and Maywood. Support is offered in English and Spanish, and the Collaboration’s Family Advisory Committee is made up of parents and caregivers from all backgrounds.

“Every child deserves a strong start, and the early years give us an amazing opportunity to set strong foundations,” Reynolds said. “Our community has so many wonderful resources, but not every family can get to them equally. Cost, language, work schedules, transportation, or simply not knowing what’s out there, can make a big difference in what a family is able to access. We’re all stronger when we learn and grow together.”

Though not a parent herself, Reynolds has centered her career around early childhood settings since high school. From spending summers as a classroom assistant in a migrant Head Start program to working for years as a social worker focused on children and families, Reynolds says the Collaboration is the perfect example of how adults both with and without children can do the work building neighborhoods where young ones can belong and flourish. 

“When we get the early years right, it makes our whole community stronger,” she said. “Since so much of who all of us become is shaped before kindergarten, strengthening those early years pays off for our whole community.”

The Collaboration’s “warmline” guarantees everyone who calls will receive a call back, with staff happy to answer questions or walk alongside families while they navigate the new chapter in their lives. 

For inquiries and information on free monthly events, an early childhood resource directory or volunteer opportunities, call (708) 613-6122 or visit collab4kids.org.