Video: Operation Breakthrough helping kiddos reach their full potential
November 9, 2017 | Bobby Burch
Founded in 1971 by two nuns, Sister Corita Bussanmas and Sister Berta Sailer, Operation Breakthrough serves more than 450 children daily with a mission to provide a safe educational environment for children in poverty.
The has adapted through the decades to meet the needs of Kansas City’s low-income community, Operation Breakthrough CEO Mary Esselman said. Implemented three years ago, the makerspace includes such zones as textiles, studio arts, chef’s corner and construction/toy hacking, she said. It’s part of an effort to expand early childhood development beyond merely teaching toddlers how to pick up a book, Esselman said.
Welcoming select children from ages 6 weeks to 13 years, the center also includes such health-related programs as a USDA-approved meal program serving more than 1,000 meals a day, occupational and physical therapy, speech and language therapy, a dental clinic, and an on-site Children’s Mercy clinic.
Learn more about the center with the video below.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Bus tech startup Transportant announces $11M in pre-sales at Lean Lab pitch night
School districts across North America are on board with Transportant — to the tune of $11 million in pre-sale agreements, co-founder John Styers said. The startup, which uses video-based technology to allow students, parents and school administrators to better monitor school buses, announced the milestone — $10 million over its goal of $1 million in…
Councilman introduces east side investment proposal with $15/hour wage provision
As economic development surges in pockets across Kansas City, residents and businesses on the east side shouldn’t be left behind, Scott Taylor said. “Our clock is ticking as a city on this, and we need to do more,” said Taylor, councilman for the sixth district, at-large. At a press conference Thursday, Taylor introduced a draft…
KCPS superintendent to city struggling with violence: When do we all come together?
It’s inexcusable for Kansas City to simply accept 130 murders before it’s even December, Mark Bedell said. “Who do you think are committing these crimes?” Bedell, superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools, asked a crowd gathered Thursday for the Lean Lab’s Launch[ED) Day. “Probably people who have been victims of schools that have failed them…
Kauffman Foundation rolls out $1.2M microlending program to help underserved entrepreneurs
Amid a swarm of 160 events as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation announced a new microlending program to spur investment in underserved entrepreneurs. In partnership with four microfinance lenders, the foundation issued a series of grants totaling $1.2 million that a will change the way the nonprofit microlenders capitalize their…