Arms of Grace dba Center of Grace

The ultimate goal at the Center of Grace is to nurture children, strengthen families and build community, primarily in Olathe. We nurture children in our Migrant Preschool, where they are learning English and preparing for Kindergarten as they attend a quality preschool. We also nurture children and youth through our partnership with the Boys and Girls Club. Currently we are serving 120 students K-12. The goal is that each student will graduate from high school with post-secondary plans in place. We also nurture children through the Kansas Reading Roadmap program, which works with K-3 students to make sure they are at or above reading level. We strengthen poor working families by helping them stretch their paycheck as we provide free community meals, clothing, and shoes for their children. We also offer free basic health screenings, dental services in partnership with JCCC, and a medical equipment loaning program. We provide community resource information so that people can access what they need. We strengthen families by partnering with Olathe Parents and Teachers and sharing information about child development. We strengthen families by providing a safe, educational place for their children after school and during the summer in partnership with Boys and Girls Club.  We build community by providing a safe place in Olathe where people from all walks of life can gather. We build community when volunteers from all over the community come together to help in all the different activities and programs we offer. We build community at the Center because those who are in need as well as those who want to help come together and get to know one another, have conversation and learn about each other. We build community because we have individuals who get to know each others' names and stories instead of just being a statistic.

JCCC has received a grant from the state, that we have administered, to offer the Migrant preschool. This grant ends in July of 2018. We have already secured funds to operate next school year and our plan is to continue to look for grants in order to continue to serve these children who otherwise will not be ready to start Kindergarten. The Boys and Girls Club is full and each school year and every summer we have students on a waitlist. The Center of Grace and Boys and Girls Club have agreed to enter into a long term agreement and undergo a capital campaign to renovate and repurpose the building in order to accommodate more students.We plan to continue to reach out to get more financial resources and volunteers to continue to offer those basic services that help those most in need in our community.We also recognize that in order for people to transform their lives, they need opportunities to grow and learn so we will be applying for grants to develop new programs that will give people the chance to be employed and get better jobs.