Funded by a grant from the City of Chattanooga, our mission is to prepare children for lifelong success from healthy pregnancies through early childhood development. Throughout the pandemic, Family Forward continued to provide intensive case management, mentoring and support virtually; provided emergency assistance with rent, utilities, diapers, food and other supplies to young families.

In the first two months of the pandemic our teachers found creative ways to continue educating our children virtually through a distanced learning program. Because of our COVID protocols, children returned to in-person services in May. This allowed parents and essential workers to return to work, children to stay engaged and teachers to continue developing relationships with families.

The first step in addressing developmental delays is conducting an assessment. Signal Centers provides this assessment for children across East Tennessee. This assessment provides the roadmap for early intervention services. This year’s shift to virtual appointments yielded the advantage of increased engagement by parents in the assessment process.

Once assessed, Signal Centers’ staff provide ongoing developmental therapy sessions for families in Southeast Tennessee. Providing intervention at the earliest point in a child’s life promotes better outcomes for children for lifelong learning. Performing these sessions virtually empowered parents to be more hands-on with implementing developmental strategies. This led to parents becoming partners with therapists and better advocates for their children.

The WAGE$ program has seen a huge uptick in applications as word about the program continues to spread across the state. It took nearly 14 months to grow the program from zero to one million dollars in supplements distributed and only 5 months to go from one million to two million dollars.

SMALL BUSINESS ACADEMY

Prior to the pandemic, CCR&R launched the Small Business Academy to help support the business practices of child care centers and family care providers. We could have never predicted how important these services would prove to be, as COVID forced child care centers to close all across our state. Jacquetta Maples, owner of Loving Childcare, completed the Small Business Academy prior to COVID. She says the academy increased her confidence as a business owner, and helped her business survive once the lockdown forced closures around the state.

VIRTUAL CPR/FIRST AID TRAINING

Like many of our other services, CCR&R converted all of our trainings to a virtual format. When it came to offering CPR and First Aid training, both of which require hands-on instruction, this became particularly challenging. We collaborated with our contracted instructors to develop a hybrid training program that incorporated both virtual instruction and in-person, socially distanced assessments.

One of the most important aspects of Adult Day Services (ADS) is connectivity. Our outcomes have proven that ADS has reduced feelings of isolation and depression in our participants. When COVID forced us to cease in-person services, our primary focus became continuing to provide that feeling of community with participants at home. We accomplished that by dropping off activity baskets, writing frequent letters, and creating “Club Signal,” a club where participants could stay in touch while engaging in virtual activities, from going to concerts to traveling the world.

STAYING CONNECTED FROM AFAR

One of the most important aspects of Adult Day Services (ADS) is connectivity. Our outcomes have proven that ADS has reduced feelings of isolation and depression in our participants. When COVID forced us to cease in-person services, our primary focus became continuing to provide that feeling of community with participants at home. We accomplished that by dropping off activity baskets, writing frequent letters, and creating “Club Signal,” a club where participants could stay in touch while engaging in virtual activities, from going to concerts to traveling the world.

ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS SUMMIT

The second annual Signal Centers Accessibility Awareness Summit was converted to a virtual event over the course of a few weeks. Headlined by our keynote, Jared Spool, the summit was comprised of eight sessions with accessibility experts, covering topics ranging from voice technology to artificial intelligence. Over 300 people attended the event from all over the world.

BYRON MEADOR

Byron Meador, a Vision Specialist, is blind himself and leads classes on computer skills, software use and the accessibility features of devices. During the pandemic, he has conducted these classes remotely. In a time where digital connectivity is at a premium, these classes have ensured those with vision loss can stay ahead of the curve.

In the midst of the pandemic, the City of Chattanooga recognized that the homeless population of our city would be disproportionately affected by the virus. Through Signal Centers’ oversight of the Chattanooga Interagency Council on Homelessness (CICH), we have brought together a multitude of services and organizations to focus on ending homelessness for many families and individuals.

In the fall of 2020, we learned that Hamilton County was about to become the only county in Tennessee to not provide the Imagination Library to young children. Signal stepped up and in January 2021, became the official partner for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Hamilton County. This meant becoming responsible for the fundraising to support this vital initiative. Hamilton County children of all incomes, aged birth to five, are eligible for enrollment in this program.

• Over 12,000 children in Hamilton County receive books each month
• Young children receive a free book a month until they turn five
• Every dollar donated is matched by the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation