Focus on Youth and Education: Starfish Family Services
expands early childhood
education access

Roxanne Brinkerhoff says it’s harder for families to access high-quality early childhood education than at any time during her 25-year career – despite its impact on children’s school readiness and long-term success and parents’ ability to stay in the workforce.

“It’s been a challenge for years, but it feels like it’s getting worse. We are seeing an increased need for infant and toddler care,” says Brinkerhoff, who is the CEO at Starfish Family Services in Inkster.

The nonprofit operates 14 early childhood education centers and provides behavioral health services for more than 3,000 children and families in Wayne County. It also is one of the largest local providers of Head Start, a federal program that prepares the most vulnerable young children to succeed in school and in life.

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has made a number of grants to Starfish under the umbrella of our Youth and Education focus area, which supports literacy, youth development and lifelong learning. In addition to making community grants in this focus area, we also manage initiatives like Project Play and special funding opportunities like our Youth Advisory Committee and the Detroit Auto Dealers Association Charitable Foundation Fund.

A recent $50,000 grant from the Community Foundation allowed Starfish to expand access to its Marygrove Early Education Center (EEC) for families with children ages zero through three that don’t qualify for state or federal assistance but can’t afford the full cost of tuition.

Young learners thrive at Starfish center on Marygrove campus

In 2021, Starfish was selected to operate the Marygrove Early Education Center on the P-20 campus of Marygrove in Detroit. The campus, which is recognized as a national model, offers a continuum of support for families, from prenatal partnership to K-12 and pathways beyond.

It is the kind of setting many parents dream of for their children’s home away from home.

Desks are tiny, and natural light streams into the well-equipped classrooms. Outside, children explore nature under the shade of mature trees, supervised by nurturing adults. A team of educators and therapists provides attentive care inside a state-of-the-art building. An app keeps parents connected to events, resources and ways to build community.

It was everything Lidi Armenta-Keys and her husband, Jesse Armenta-Keys, wanted for their daughter, Xiomara. The Marygrove Early Education Center is one of few local options where she can receive disability accommodations through Early Head Start and Starfish’s infant behavioral health services. Xiomara, affectionately known as Xi Xi, was born with Down syndrome, and her parents knew early interventions would be vital to helping her thrive.

“Marygrove is a family. You’re greeted when you walk in. The staff is extremely friendly,” Lidi Armenta-Keys says. “Everybody knows Xiomara. Everybody says, ‘Hi, Xi Xi!’. Everybody’s so warm and friendly. She just lights up the minute she goes in there.”

Lidi Armenta-Keys says the relief was palpable when her family confirmed Xiomara qualified for Early Head Start, which serves certain children from birth through age three, and would receive federal funding to attend the Marygrove Early Education Center that Starfish runs.

However, education choices are limited for many families with infants and toddlers who don’t qualify for Early Head Start yet can’t afford the full price of tuition.

Community Foundation reduces educational barriers

The cost of providing licensed caregivers, federal spending cuts, and the facts that fewer schools offer an early childhood education curriculum and fewer young people are going into the field all contribute to the shortage of options and the high prices many parents face.

Despite these barriers, Brinkerhoff says all children deserve access to high-quality early childhood education that sets them up for success in life and allows their parents to stay in the workforce – and the Community Foundation grant is helping them get it.

The Community Foundation has been extremely helpful in understanding the needs of not just Starfish, but also what the families need, This support directly impacts individuals. That is something that’s very important to us.”

Roxanne Brinkerhoff