Trying Together’s Director of Public Policy to Discuss Current State of Early Childhood Education in Virtual Event
News
March 12, 2025
Trying Together’s Director of Public Policy to Discuss Current State of Early Childhood Education in Virtual Event
Trying Together’s director of public policy will take part in an upcoming virtual event with Carlow University during which she will discuss the current state of early childhood education, preschool, and child care.
The discussion will cover federal, state, and local policies and will focus on where things stand today and how to prepare for the future. It will also provide an overview of the Pennsylvania budget process and early childhood funding at the state and federal levels.
Learn More
Politics and Policy: The Early Care and Education Landscape will take place virtually from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, April 7. The discussion is part of the Sister Mary Paul Hickey Educator Workshop Series collection.
Emily Neff, Trying Together’s director of public policy, will lead the discussion. In her role at Trying Together, Neff mobilizes early childhood educators to share their expertise with policymakers and engages families to tell their stories. She also develops policy recommendations to create a more equitable and accessible system.
Act 48 and PQAS hours are available for the event.
Those interested in attending should reserve a spot online. A Zoom link will appear via email a few days before the event.
Trying Together Releases Winter 2025 Professional Development Catalog
News
March 5, 2025
Trying Together Releases Winter 2025 Professional Development Catalog
Trying Together has released its 2025 winter catalog to help educators find professional growth opportunities that align with their career goals. The catalog provides course details and credentials.
Learn More
In the past year, Trying Together awarded nearly 4,500 PQAS credits to support continuous improvement in early learning programs. It aims to increase the number by regularly updating its Professional Development Catalog to make it easier for educators to continue to learn.
All courses listed in the catalog are led by a certified PQAS instructor and are Act 48 approved.
The courses are broken down into nine sections:
Basics of Learning and Engagement
Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)
Assessments and Supportive Services (Early Intervention)
Behavior and Social-Emotional Learning
Everyday Interactions Matter (EIM)
Health and Safety
Advocacy and Public Policy
Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Professionalism in Practice
For more information on how Trying Together can assist educators in their learning goals, email learning@tryingtogether.org or call 412-421-3889.
ELRC Region 5 Teams Pack Kits at Western PA Diaper Bank
News
March 3, 2025
ELRC Region 5 Teams Pack Kits at Western PA Diaper Bank
The ELRC Region 5 Quality Coach and Early Learning Program Engagement Specialist (ELPES) teams packed diaper kits and other materials last week that will be distributed to local families. Trying Together is the quality partner to the ELRC Region 5.
The kits will be sent to local social service agencies that will distribute them to families in need in the region. The teams wrapped more than 8,000 diapers and packed several hundred period kits.
The event also included some team-building activities for participants.
Lisa Hall, ELRC Director of Early Learning Program Engagement, said that the initiative began in 2021 when the ELPES team began volunteering for the diaper bank at the Kingsley Association, one of ELRC Region 5’s satellite sites.
“It was a wonderful experience and we enjoyed it, so we’ll volunteer once a year at the diaper bank,” Hall said. “The ELRC downtown office now serves as a diaper bank and formula distribution center. This expanded capability enables the ELRC to further support families in need and continue our commitment to community service.”
Business Supports for Child Care Owners – Debt Reduction & Credit Building
News
February 28, 2025
Business Supports for Child Care Owners – Debt Reduction & Credit Building
Trying Together, in partnership with Allegheny County Financial Empowerment Center, will guide small business child care owners in understanding debt pay-off and credit building to strengthen child care business.
Learn More
Participants will explore where personal and business financial habits intersect, and how to make sound fiscal decisions while sustaining child care programs.
Those interested in participating in Business Supports for Child Care Owners – Debt Reduction and Credit Building should register online.
The free event will be offered online via Zoom on Thursday, April 24 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Business Supports for Child Care Owners – Money Management
News
Business Supports for Child Care Owners – Money Management
Trying Together, in partnership with Allegheny County Financial Empowerment Center, will guide small business child care owners in understanding money management to strengthen child care business.
Learn More
Participants will explore where personal and business financial habits intersect, and how to make sound fiscal decisions while sustaining child care programs.
Those interested in attending Business Supports for Child Care Owners – Money Management can register online. The free event will be held online via Zoom from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 3.
Participants will start the day with a free community panel of local women leaders who are driving change on critical issues. The panel will be followed by a ticketed luncheon.
The luncheon’s featured speaker is Lulu Garcia-Navarro. The panel is comprised of:
Trying Together Executive Director Cara Ciminillo
FISA Foundation Executive Director Kristy Trautmann
Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania President & CEO Sydney Etheredge
Ford Institute for Human Security Director Dr. Muge Kokten Finkel
Black Women’s Policy Center Founder & CEO Rochelle L. Jackson
The panel begins at 9 a.m. at Point Park University, while the luncheon starts at 11:30 a.m. The event runs until 3 p.m. Tickets and registration are now available.
Trying Together Pittsburgh Pirates Outing
News
February 24, 2025
Trying Together Pittsburgh Pirates Outing
Trying Together will be spotlighted as the Nonprofit of the Game at the Pittsburgh Pirates game against the New York Yankees on April 6. A portion of each ticket will benefit Trying Together.
Learn More
The Pirates will play the Yankees at PNC Park at 1:35 p.m. on April 6. All tickets include a $5 food and beverage credit. A portion of each ticket purchased goes towards Trying Together’s mission of supporting high-quality care and education for young children by providing advocacy, community resources, and professional growth opportunities for the needs and rights of children, their families, and the individuals who interact with them.
Nonprofit of the Game tickets cost $41.47 – $49.70 and can be purchased online by March 30. Ticket prices include fees.
Direct any questions about attending or sponsoring the event to Kerry Chapman, Trying Together’s Assistant Director of Development, at 412-206-1053 or by email at kerry@tryingtogether.org.
Support Trying Together for the 2025 Highmark Walk
News
February 17, 2025
Support Trying Together for the 2025 Highmark Walk
The 2025 Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community is scheduled for June 14. This annual fundraising walk benefits local health and human service agencies to raise money for their missions.
Register With Trying Together
Trying Together is currently registering walkers to take part in the event, which will be held on Saturday, June 14 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. Those who participate will be able to sign up to walk as an individual, join a team, or create a new team.
Participants will be able to donate and track donations made as well as send templated email reminders to teammates on Highmark’s online platform.
Fundraise for Your Early Learning Program
The owners or directors of early learning programs who meet the eligibility standards can work with Trying Together to raise funds through the Highmark Walk.
Early learning programs can create walk teams on behalf of their organizations. A total of 75 percent of all funds raised by early learning teams will be donated back to their programs.
Those interested in starting a team with Trying Together can do so on its registration page. Once there, select “Click Here to Form a Team,” enter the name of your organization as the team name when prompted, and complete the registration form.
Donations
Trying Together will accept donations via the online donation platform or mail. To submit a check or cash donation, complete the Walker Donation Form and mail it, along with your donation, to Trying Together at:
Trying Together c/o Kerry Chapman 5604 Solway Street Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Donations must be submitted by June 30, 2025. All registered walkers who raise or donate $30 or more will receive a Highmark Walk T-shirt while supplies last.
For more information, contact Kerry Chapman, Assistant Director of Development, at kerry@tryingtogether.org, visit Highmark’s FAQ page, or check out this flyer. For information about sponsorship opportunities, check out this flyer.
PennAEYC Honors Educators with Voice for Children Award
News
February 5, 2025
PennAEYC Honors Educators with Voice for Children Award
The Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children (PennAEYC) recently honored educators during their 2025 Voice for Children Celebration.
The VOICE for Children Award is the only statewide award in Pennsylvania recognizing early care and education professionals, who are not paid advocates but go above and beyond their daily work in the field by being grassroots leaders through advocacy and public policy efforts. The award celebrates not only individual award recipients, but also the early childhood profession. PennAEYC presented this year’s award recipients at an event on April 4.
Trying Together recognizes and congratulates two honorees in particular who have worked closely with the organization.
Honorees
Photo credit: PennAEYC
Lesely Crawford, an educator and the executive director of Pittsburgh’s ABK Learning and Development Center, was among this year’s three honorees. She was nominated by Trying Together.
“Lesely’s love for children and her desire to educate them led her to open her own early learning center. She was concerned with the struggles of her students and felt that she could do more for them if she caught them earlier. Not wanting to leave any children behind, ABK Learning & Development Center was born. As she organized and structured the program, she felt compelled to focus on families that lacked sufficient care during nontraditional hours. ABK Learning & Development Center would be open 24 hours, seven days a week to accommodate parents. Through the partnership with the housing Authority the City of Pittsburgh, she opened her second facility, Bedford Hope Center. ” Read full bio.
Photo credit: PennAEYC
Eva Wood (executive director of Ligonier Valley Learning Center, Inc. in Latrobe) was also honored this year. She is a long-time partner of Trying Together and recently became part of Trying Together’s ECE Advocacy Fellowship. As a result of her involvement in the ECE Advocacy Fellowship, she began the Westmoreland Director’s Team which is already meeting and has grown to almost 40 members.
Most recently, Eva contributed a story to the “Day in the Life” advocacy project through Trying Together, which encourages others to gain a deeper understanding of the realities facing children, families, and early childhood educators across the state. Read full bio.
Other honorees include:
VOICE for Children Student Honoree: Sonya Geisinger (owner/operator of Sonya Sue Geisinger’s Family Daycare in Coopersburg)
Distinguished Career Nominee: Gail Nourse, a consultant and first director of The Pennsylvania Key
Vision Award Honoree: The Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce was this year’s Vision Award honoree.
The gala was held at the Hershey Lodge and more than 125 early childhood care and education professionals were in attendance. Jasmine Brooks, an anchor for CBS 21, acted as the event’s emcee.
This workshop is for ECE professionals who have taken our Advocacy 101 or any other foundational advocacy training and would like to take the next step in preparing to speak with elected officials.
We will review early childhood research and effective messaging such as brain science, return on investment, impact on workforce and business community, and high-quality teaching. Attendees will have the opportunity to develop messaging points during the workshop to turn into a letter to the editor, letter for their elected official, or content for social media post.
The course will be instructed by Trying Together’s Emily Neff and Hailee B. Roye.
Details for the event include:
Date: Wednesday, March 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
