Founded in August 1999, ELPM supports and promotes high quality early childhood learning and development by providing safe and adequate facilities to conduct high quality early learning programs and activities that foster early child development for underprivileged children.

ELPM conducts searches for locations, acquires re-zoning when necessary, purchases, constructs, renovates leases, owns, and manages long term facilities used by pre-qualified non-profit early learning providers to conduct high quality programs to serve community needs. 

The scope of ELPM’s services includes working with the provider to determine the location and/or layout of the final facility, partnering with the center provider to implement a fund raising program and jointly raise the capital needed for each project, building and/or renovating the facility according to all applicable standards, and offering affordable long-term leases at below market rates. 

These provider agencies sustain a portion of their program through secured revenue streams from agencies such as Head Start, Early Head Start and Bright from the Start.  The providers can continue to lease at below market rates as long as they provide National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accredited programs or equivalent to disadvantaged children. 

To date, ELPM has purchased, constructed or renovated ten facilities in Fulton, Dekalb, Paulding and Greene counties and over 2,300 young children, their families and their communities have been served.  With the completion of ELPM’s current project on the Gwinnett Technical College Campus, an additional 220 young children and their families will be served.   This early education center will increase the development of the college’s role as a leader in training the early childhood workforce and be a platform to create the first state wide high quality teaching pool for Georgia.  

Smart Start Georgia is a significant supporter of this major construction campaign, along with several other foundations.

For more information on ELPM please visit www.elpm.org or contact Kara Portnell at 404.634.4049 or kportnell@elpm.org.   

In more than 350 communities nationwide and in Canada, United Ways are building relationships by bringing together the public, non-profit and private sectors as community problem solvers to invest in young children. United Way Success By 6 efforts include developing a community plan to help children succeed when they enter school, leveraging resources to enhance research-based strategies, addressing system barriers to healthy development and mobilizing the community around children ages zero to six.

Success By 6 creates effective community-based solutions that contribute to positive quality of life for young children and attains broad, community-level change by addressing system barriers that negatively impact children and families in areas such as health, child care and early childhood education.

For more information on Success By 6 visit www.successby6.org.