Our Mission

The mission of Great Start is to ensure that every family with young children in Bay and Arenac Counties has an equitable opportunity to achieve a great start in life. We are dedicated to: Serve – Innovate – Empower Great Start Collaborative Bay and Arenac Counties.
 

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There are just 2,000 days between birth and the first day of kindergarten. During this period, 85 percent of a child’s brain is formed. Brain research has shown us how nutrition, nurturing, and early learning experiences literally shape the brain during this critical growth period. Investing in early childhood pays for itself seven-fold by reducing poverty, violent crime, the need for special education and reducing high-school drop-out rates.
 

The purpose of the Bay-Arenac Great Start Collaborative is to create a coordinated system of community resources and support where all Bay County and Arenac County families know about and have access to the services they need to ensure that their children begin kindergarten ready and eager to learn.