Celebrating Connection and Collaboration at the Ready Kids East County Big Table Event
On October 29 more than 65 individuals participated in an incredible evening of community, and collaboration focused on enhancing services for Black and African American families. Ready Kids East County is an effort that brings together service providers to explore ways to collectively enhance family resilience and school readiness of young Black children who live in East County. At the event, families, partners, and community leaders come together for meaningful conversation about culturally affirming practices, effective outreach methods and ways to tailor services to African American families. A special thank you to our guest speaker, Nisaa Kirtman, Ph.D., for her inspiring presentation, Centering Black Families: Building Pathways to Access and Connection. Your insights provided actionable strategies and thoughtful guidance for creating equitable and culturally-centered family engagement.
What’s Next?
We’re excited to keep the momentum going! Join us at our upcoming Ready Kids East County Resource Fair on April 11, 2026 at the Marina Community Center in Pittsburg, where families can connect with local programs, services, and resources to support young children and their caregivers.
Ready Kids East County Resource Fair
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Marina Community Center, Pittsburg
Families:
Service Providers:
- Interested in tabling at the upcoming Resource Fair or learning about ways you can partner and support our Ready Kids East County effort? Please reach out to Jessica Keener at jkeener@first5coco.org
Thank you again to everyone who participated in the Big Table event. Together, we’re building bridges through stronger connections, advancing equity, and creating meaningful opportunities for Black and African American families in East County.
Championing Early Childhood: Congressman DeSaulnier and Assemblymember Wilson Visit First 5 Contra Costa
It was a pleasure to have Congressman Mark DeSaulnier back at our offices to discuss the need to continue to support early childhood, and in particular, prevention and upstream investments during these challenging times. We appreciate the Congressman’s continued leadership and dedication as a champion for early childhood over the years in all his elected positions, from county supervisor to Congressman.
We were also delighted to welcome Assemblymember Lori Wilson to our First 5 Center in Brentwood. During her visit, Assemblymember Wilson toured the center, observed programming in action, and learned more about how the First 5 Center model has evolved over its 20 year history to meet families with young children’s most pressing early childhood needs. The visit highlighted how First 5 Centers and the other county-wide services First 5 Contra Costa supports foster the health and stability of families and children during those first five critical years of life.
Thank you, Congressman DeSaulnier and Assemblymember Wilson, for your time, partnership, and commitment to policies that give every child in Contra Costa the support they need to thrive.
Click here to learn more about our five First 5 Center locations
Supporting Local Community Advocacy: First 5 Contra Costa Awards Mini-Grants to Strengthen Community Voice
First 5 Contra Costa recently announced the recipients of the Building Blocks Mini-Grants, a one-time funding opportunity that supports local advocacy projects that engage parents and/or service providers in advancing issues and policies that benefit children ages 0–5 and their families. The intended outcome of these grants is to strengthen community voice and advocacy capacity, empowering organizations to drive lasting policy and systems change for Contra Costa families with young children. This year, First 5 Contra Costa received 33 applications requesting a total of $141,400 in funding across all proposals.
These organizations will use their mini-grants to create meaningful, community-driven projects that align with First 5 Contra Costa’s mission, ensuring young children are healthy, ready to learn, and supported in safe, nurturing families and communities.
Congratulations to the 2025 grant recipients:
- Black Girls Mental Health Foundation: Hosting a convening of trusted community partners to develop a shared mission, vision, and strategic plan for the newly launched Maternal, Infant & Early Childhood Health Consortium and launch a professional development series to advance maternal mental health equity for Black and Brown birthing individuals.
- Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano: Supporting the Food Bank in elevating the voices of parents with young children in its longstanding Speaker Series program, which develops knowledge, skills, and confidence among those with lived experiences of hunger in sharing those stories with decision makers in our county.
- Contra Costa Abundant Birth Project, in partnership with Public Health Foundation Enterprises for Expecting Justice: Compiling and publicizing photographs and personal stories centering the joy, strength, and empowerment of Black and African American mothers and children impacted by the guaranteed income project.
- NCal Family Child Care Alliance: Developing a policy brief and media campaign to elevate the voices, needs, strengths, and experiences of bilingual educators in early childhood.
- Care Parent Network, in partnership with VistAblity: Building the advocacy and storytelling skills of parents of children with Autism through facilitated playdates, advocacy training, and community events.
In addition to these mini-grants, a four-part training series for parents and service providers interested in learning more about advocacy for early childhood issues concluded on November 6. About 40 individuals from across the county participated in these evening training sessions led by Fierce Advocates to learn about advocacy strategies. Thank you to the dedicated parents and service providers who participated in this pilot.
We are inspired by the creativity, dedication, and commitment of these grantees and training participants, and we look forward to seeing the impact of their advocacy in our county.
New Report Highlights Progress Toward Inclusive Child Care in Contra Costa
More than 72,000 children under age six call Contra Costa home, but with licensed child care spaces available for roughly two-thirds of those whose parents work, many families still struggle to find affordable, high-quality care. In addition to this overall shortfall, there is an even greater gap in access to inclusive child care programs that can meet the needs of children with disabilities, delays, and developmental concerns.
To help address this challenge, First 5 Contra Costa—supported by Measure X funds and state tobacco tax revenue—launched a two-year initiative to strengthen inclusion in early learning settings. This effort aims to ensure that child care providers have the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to effectively support the diverse needs of all children.
Our newly released two-year report spotlights the progress made through this effort, highlighting investments, partnerships, and measurable outcomes that are helping to close the gap for children with disabilities and delays. These results shine a light on what’s possible when we work together to build a future where every child, of every ability, has the support they need to thrive.
Download the full report here.
Click here to learn more about our past and current work on fostering inclusion in early learning
Listening to Families: Insights from Contra Costa Parents
Families’ everyday experiences offer powerful insights into how they engage with family support services across the county and what they need to help their children thrive. To better understand their experiences, First 5 Contra Costa partnered with the Stanford Center on Early Childhood to conduct a countywide Listening Tour and gather feedback from parents of children under age six.
Through small group discussions and interviews with more than 50 families, parents shared what’s working well and where more support is needed to help them access programs and services. Their stories highlight both positive experiences with local resources and persistent barriers such as limited awareness, language access, and scheduling challenges.
The resulting report, Key Learnings from the First 5 Contra Costa Listening Tour, outlines actionable insights to help strengthen outreach, improve family support programs, and ensure all families with young children can access the help they need to thrive from the start. First 5 Contra Costa will be using these insights to inform its strategic planning process that will outline priorities for the agency over the next five years.
Download the full report here.