CUPS Corner: Education for all ages
You’ve heard it before: education is the key to ending poverty. And the numbers prove how important education is in all facets of life.
Increases a person’s income: Studies show that for each year of schooling, girls can increase their lifetime earnings by 10 to 20 per cent.
Education saves lives: Every additional year in a mother’s education reduces infant mortality by 5 to 10 per cent.
Improves health in children: A child with a mother who can read is 50 per cent more likely to live past the age of 5.
Education Builds Peace: For every 10 per cent a region is above the average education level, the risk of war and conflict is reduced by about 3 per cent.
Increases a country’s wealth: Each additional year of school given to children in a nation raises average annual domestic product (GDP) growth by 0.37 per cent.
Reduces poverty: Studies suggest that if all students living in low-income had basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty, globally.
Some sobering statistics to remind us that at the root of economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health, strong communities and successful parenting is education. And to support our goal of building resilience for all, CUPS offers education support programs to clients of all ages, including:
Child Development Centre
The CUPS Child Development Centre is for children ages 3 to 6 who come from low-income families. Here, children who have education challenges get support as they learn and grow. Programs include:
Full-day preschool
Kindergarten
Breakfast, lunch and snacks
Healthcare services (visits from family doctors, dentists and opticians)
Occupational therapy
Speech therapy
Physiotherapy
Transportation
Parent Education & Nurturing Parenting Program
CUPS has free parent education programs, classes and activities that help caregivers build positive skills. Participants must be low income earners with young children (0-6 years-old), and must be open to learning new information and working on new parenting skills. We will work with you in groups at CUPS or one-on-one in your home.
The Never Too Late Program
Have you ever considered, what if, by working together to leverage each others' strengths, we could dramatically increase the odds for families and communities to build resilience for generations? What if, by intentionally and strategically integrating service delivery across two organizations, we could inspire others in the sector to consider a similar approach?
We’ve thought of those questions, too, and to that end, we are celebrating our first inter-agency collaboration with Catholic Family Service (CFS) and our first intake of students in the Never Too Late program!
Since May 2019, CUPS and CFS have been forging this partnership opportunity to offer more effective and efficient services. With the Never Too Late program, we can expand from CFS’s original two sites into a third site at CUPS, and offer more vulnerable adults with low-barrier access to upgrade their education and complete their high school equivalency (GED).
Details of the program include:
Enrollment that is not restricted to geographic area
Entry can be through either CUPS or CFS
Classes take place at CUPS
Child minding and meals are provided
In addition to class time, a one-hour session focused on student reflection about learning, building core life skills and reducing stress were added
There will be access to additional CUPS and CFS services
The program is founded in Brain Science principles
Patricia Jones, Chief Executive Officer of CFS and CUPS’ Carlene Donnelly would like to acknowledge both teams for their incredible hard work over the past six months to launch this program.
Through this bold, pioneering initiative, not only are our two organizations showing that collaboration within our sector is possible, but that it’s making a more tangible impact in advancing poverty reduction and breaking the cycle of vulnerability in our city.
No matter your age, it’s never too late to open up your mind, expand it and allow yourself to improve your life — and the lives of those around you — in so many ways. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” - Malcolm X
Interested in getting involved at CUPS? Click here.