CHILDREN FIRST helps Orange County’s skilled retired citizens reach across generations to contribute their time and experience to improve the odds that low-income children will grow up as healthy, educated, and productive human beings.

CHILDREN FIRST places skilled retirees who want to work full- or part-time with innovative public and nonprofit early childhood development providers that have unmet needs for senior, experienced professionals. For example, the Foundation, based on providers’ requests, recruits:

• Retired doctors and nurses to provide needed health screening
• Retired school teachers to fill vacant positions or support existing teachers and help in the classroom
• Retired counselors to advise parents about the ways they can help their children develop and learn
• Retired artists and musicians to help provide and enrich art, music, dance, and drama  programs
• Retired  athletes to help children develop motor skills and self-confidence
• Retired fund raisers to help develop and carry out strategies to secure resources
• Retired union workers to provide mentoring to children who have problems in the classroom
• Retired lawyers and accountants to provide legal and financial management services
• Retired executives and managers to fill vacant leadership and supervisory roles or to coach present leaders and supervisors

If you are a retiree seeking meaningful, interesting work supporting early childhood development providers in Orange County, please contact us for a brochure and application. You may also download an application here. We welcome any questions you might have and are happy to meet with you to discuss the skilled retiree placement program.

If you are an early childhood development provider interested in securing skilled retirees to complement and support your staff, please see our Professional Services Guide for a list of currently available CHILDREN FIRST volunteer services.

Grants for Early Childhood Development Providers

The Invest in Children Fund, administered by Children First, provides one-year grants of up to $25,000 each year to providers of early childhood development programs for children from low income families. Providers must submit grant applications to the Orange County Community Foundation’s Invest in Children Fund. Awardees are selected on a competitive basis after interviews with applicants and an extensive review process by the Orange County Community Foundation, the Children and Families Commission and CHILDREN FIRST. Criteria governing grant awards include the applicant’s leadership and management abilities; the quality of the proposal; the applicant’s capacity to continue the proposed initiative after the end of the grant period; the inclusion of skilled retirees in program activities and budget, and the replicability of the initiative elsewhere in Orange County and nation.

If your organization would like to apply for a grant, please contact us for an application and brochure. You may download an application here. We welcome any questions you might have and are happy to meet with you to discuss the early childhood development grant program.