Frequently Asked Questions about the project

What area will the project serve?
EYELI will provide services to an area of 5.5 square miles that is bordered to the east by I-82, primarily to the north by River Road, extends as far south as East Mead Avenue, and goes as far west as North 34th Avenue.
• See a formal map of the project area here.
• Locate some of the sites within the project area here.

How is the project being funded?
EYELI is an initiative of Thrive By Five Washington and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which are the primary funders and plan to devote about $90 million collectively toward early learning in Washington through 2016. This includes funding for the state's two demonstration sites.

How will the funds from the initial planning grant be spent?
See the information published in the third EYELI Executive Summary.

How were the needs for the project's services determined?
Residents from the project area and other volunteers surveyed 379 people living in the the east Yakima area during November 2006 to obtain data on the service needs for the parents there. The needs assessment compiled with the information from this data is being used to determine what specific types of services EYELI will deliver to parents, what model of child care programs will be offered, and what types of professional development will be made available to child care providers. Additionally, surveys and focus groups were conducted for nine child care centers in and near the project area during May and June of 2007. The focus of that research was to obtain data on the needs of the licensed child care providers for improving quality early learning among the children they serve and to develop training opportunities for the providers serving those children.

What were the findings of those surveys?
• See the results of the parents survey here.
• See the results of the child centers and home care providers survey here.

What has already been accomplished in this project?
• June 2006 — East Yakima was invited by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to apply as the site of one of its two early learning demonstration communities in the state of Washington.
• August 2006 — More than 80 Yakima community partners agreed to submit the application and selected ESD 105 to serve as intermediary for the project.
• October 2006 — Phase I grant application detailing the project's organization and planning was submitted.
• November 2006 — Door-to-door surveys were conducted among residents of the project area to develop a needs assessment used to determine the scope of the project.
• December 2006 — The project was awarded planning grants of $750,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and $423,228 from Thrive By Five Washington.
• May and June 2007 — Surveys and focus groups were conducted among home care providers and child care centers serving residents of the target area to help assess the needs of licensed child care providers and improve quality early learning for the children they serve.
• August 2007 — The project's business plan for 2007-2017 was submitted to Thrive By Five Washington's Board of Directors. Also, the first in a series of monthly full-page "Early Learning Update" ads began appearing in The Yakima Herald-Republic and the Spanish language El Sol de Yakima newspapers.
• October 2007 — Thrive By Five Washington's Board of Directors approved the project's business plan.

What is the future timeline for the project?
Implementation work continues to be developed from the project's business plan. Limited services from the early learning demonstration community's hub are anticipated to be phased in during late 2008, with full operations opening during 2009.

What can parents in the area do to provide early education until then?
Early learning informational resources for parents and others who help raise children are already available at www.CentralWashingtonBornLearning.org.

What is the role of ESD 105 in this?
ESD 105 is serving as the project's intermediary – the lead agency seeking funds for the project and organizing the planning process. ESD 105 was selected for this task from a vote involving more than 80 Yakima community partners in August 2006. ESD 105 was one of three area agencies that had applied for this responsibility, along with EPIC (Enterprise for Progress In the Community) and Yakima County.

What employment positions are available with this project?
Positions will be developed as needs progress within the project. Any current openings are listed on the ESD 105 Human Resources page.