Alton, Illinois – May 3, 2023 - Riverbend Head Start’s mission is to help families discover positive solutions to life’s challenges. Their goal is to help families escape generational poverty. They try to be a disruptor and ‘disrupt’ or ‘interrupt’ generational poverty by taking a two generational approach to wellness.

 “We provide services for our kids, preschool services from a comprehensive perspective, nutrition, social-emotional, developmental, health, dental. We fix a lot of teeth, vision & hearing. We take care of all the sensory needs as well.” Says Gene Howell, President & CEO River Bend Head Start.

Riverbend offers a free quality program for childcare. “That is huge, we are not just a childcare center. We are so much more” says Veneta Wadlow, Center Operation Coordinator.

Riverbend Head Start also helps the parents by focusing on goals. They say that it's important to meet them where they are “Are you happy with your housing? Is it safe? Are you in a community where you feel safe? Safety is key so we help establish some of those things.” Howell says.

They’ll even help families get jobs, go back to school. They’ll offer them resources to help them pay rent, food, utilities or medical services. “What is it they want to do in life to improve their situation so by the time the kids leave Head Start they are school ready and the parents are school ready” Howell explains.

Head Start serves kids from birth to 5 years old. They also help pregnant moms and they’ve helped more pregnant moms last year than ever before. Howell says “I think our highest number was 14. This past year we served around 45 pregnant moms”.

The Head Start program is center based and also offers home visits for families. They have classes where the children can come to the center for half a day or 6 hours a day depending on the service they are enrolled in. They can also receive home services.

Early Head Start is 100% home-based “We go out to the family's home and our case managers work with the family on parenting, anticipatory guidance. We work on developmental milestones” Howell says.

Riverbend Head Start prides themselves on offering an inclusive and diverse environment for families and staff.

“In the past, the company has used an outside consultant to help with DEI needs. But now with me in my role, I'm now the liaison, the person who does the research, the meetings, the training, the investigating, and I make sure we're practicing and promoting a diverse and inclusive work environment.” explains Precious Frazier, Staffing & Training Specialist in Human Resources.

Many employees have worked here for years & they are hiring! They are looking for social workers, teachers, bus drivers etc.

Riverbend Head Start is also proud of their Gold Circle quality of designation from Excelerate Illinois. 

It’s a program helping children and families learn the skills they need to be successful. “Families that we serve universally say, we thought it was a preschool and it was for the whole family.” Howell says.

“I just know that every family needs hope, every child needs hope & that's what we do. We provide hope.” Wadlow explains.

Riverbend Head Start: Teaching Children, Empowering Families and Enhancing the Community.

--Julie Tristan, STORYSMART