Hoboken Non-Profit To Get $11M Federal Funds For Head Start

HOBOKEN, NJ — U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker on Monday announced the awarding of $30.1 million in federal funding to several Head Start early childhood education programs in New Jersey. A Hoboken-based non-profit that serves several communities will received the largest of the awards, nearly $11 million.

The Head Start initiative provides development programs to help low-income children as well as their families.

The grant announced Monday willl help fund HOPES' Early Head Start and Head Start in Hoboken, Plainfield, Somerset/Franklin Township, and Early Head Start services in North Plainfield, said a HOPES representative.

HOPES Community Action Partnership, Inc. is part of the Community Action Partnership National Association established in 1964 under President Lyndon Johnson’s Economic Opportunity Act. The non-profit provides a range of services, including for expectant mothers and infants, and — through Head Start — for pre-school students aged 3 to 5.

The total amount of the award was $10,839,491.

“Because of Head Start programs such as these," Menendez said, "more children will have access to the resources and tools they need and deserve to achieve their full potential in life, while giving women a greater opportunity to remain or reenter the workforce to provide for their family.”

In 1966, HOPES began one of the first Head Start programs in the United States. According to the website, "Since then, HOPES Early Childhood Programs — Early Head Start, Head Start, and State-Funded Preschool – has expanded to the cities of Plainfield and Franklin Township, while providing the same high quality educational programs for children and support services for families."

Head Start has been shown to improve educational outcomes for participating students, including by increasing rates of high school graduation and college attendance.

Booker said, “In New Jersey, Head Start programs have provided engaging opportunities for our youngest students to create, learn, and explore. This federal funding will help provide students the tools they need to reach their full potential and succeed well into the future.”

Programs in Bridgeton (Cumberland County), Camden, East Orange, Newark, and Dover (Morris County), also received large funding awards.

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