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Worthy Causes:
Women's Leadership Initiative

by Stacey Paretti Rase

The Women’s Leadership Initiative of United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area has been working to improve the quality of child care in our community since 2002. The group started with 50 community, civic and corporate leaders and quickly grew to more than 400 participants. The organization implemented Success By 6, a community collaborative that aims to see all children ready for school by age six. The WLI also worked legislatively to increase childcare tax credits for the working poor and establish a statewide Quality Rating System for day care centers. These accomplishments were achieved by the members’ being united in leadership, philanthropy and advocacy.

A group of local women have decided to join in this tremendous effort. In October, a St. Tammany affiliate of the WLI was formed, chaired by Patti Ellish, CEO of St. Tammany Parish Hospital. More than 25 women attended the kick-off event, where Gary Ostroske, CEO of the United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area, and Kim Sport, one of the founders of the Women’s Leadership Initiative and the United Hurricane Recovery Chair, addressed the group on the work of both United Way in St. Tammany and the WLI.

The statistics presented to the group at that meeting are astounding. In 2005, only 26 of 550 licensed childcare centers in the six-parish greater New Orleans area were nationally accredited, the highest standard for day care. With 90 percent of the brain developed by age three, research has shown that early, quality childcare makes a significant difference in a child’s long-term success. A Quality Rating System gives each daycare center a rating, similar to a restaurant guide. In states with this system in place, overall quality has increased due to consumer demand. 

“Hearing Kim Sport speak truly motivated me,” remarks Ellish, noting that she was unaware of the statistics that were presented that day. “It struck a chord for me on a personal level, as I am a new grandmother and my daughter has been looking into the best childcare for her son. I began researching which facilities in our area are accredited and was shocked at what I found.”

Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall, the United Way has invested well over $1 million to sustain, repair and re-open over 70 day care centers in the region. In addition, the organization has worked with local companies on corporate-sponsored day care. Members of the Women’s Leadership Initiative pledge to raise $1,000 or more annually to United Way and continuously contribute their time and talent to the betterment of the greater New Orleans region.

“The initiative is all about advocating for higher standards for these children,” Ellish notes. “And the direction that this northshore chapter takes will be totally at the discretion of this inaugural committee. We could simply adopt the same initiatives as the southshore group, but we realize that our needs are specific and that we can best define where our money will go to best use.”

Ellish invites women from throughout the northshore area who are ready to take a stand and advocate for the highest standards for our children’s early education to get involved. To find out more, call her at 898-4018 or e-mail pellish@stph.org.

Can You Help?

We’re hoping you can! In every issue, we will use this space to publicize events that benefit needy individuals or families of the northshore.

This issue’s focus is on “Living with Hope,” a fundraiser for six-year-old Covington resident Carly Blankenship. Carly was born with holoprosencephaly, a birth defect that occurs during the first few weeks of intrauterine life. HPE is a disorder in which the fetal brain does not grow forward and divide as it is supposed to during early pregnancy. Carly is tube-fed and cared for at home by sitters while her mother and father work to try to pay all of her medical bills. All proceeds will go to Carly’s medical fund to provide for a specialized wheelchair, hormone replacement therapy, specialized enteral formula, preventative medications and therapies. For tickets, contact Bobby at 237-9787, or Jennifer at 871-0647.

Living with Hope
Saturday, February 3
8pm-12am
Madisonville Maritime Museum
Music by Clockwerk
$75 per person