1. What is the “pipeline” in the Children’s Corridor?
The pipeline model links healthy child development from cradle to career into a single pathway for success. We believe the pipeline is the essential pathway for individual success because it links the necessary elements of child development, which we believe enable parents to raise healthy, self-sufficient, creative and resilient children.
2. How did the Foundation select the Children’s Corridor geography?
The Children’s Corridor and the neighborhoods it encompasses were selected based on a combination of factors. Most important – the density of vulnerable children here and the potential to improve conditions for the greatest number of children. Additionally, increased activity and momentum of residents and partner organizations working in Corridor neighborhoods, as well as a strong history of the Foundation’s work and investments, provide fertile ground for increased impact and chances for success. We are also interested in a large scale geography that includes a diverse mix of people, neighborhoods, schools, and jurisdictions. Finally, the Corridor is one of the fastest growing areas in the metropolitan Denver/Aurora region. There are other areas of significant need in the metro Denver region and it is our hope that lessons learned in the Children’s Corridor may soon be able to help vulnerable children in these areas too.
3. What about kids who don’t live in the Children’s Corridor?
We see the Children’s Corridor as an incubator for good ideas and innovation. It’s a big enough area for us to test “going to scale” with a good idea, replicating good solutions across neighborhoods, providers and jurisdictions within the Corridor. Once we’ve proven the effectiveness and affordability of ideas in the Corridor, we will identify partners in other locations who can help make it happen there. We hope that many of the new solutions developed in the Corridor are quickly exported to the city at large, and even across the state. The Corridor is a place to test new ideas for the benefit of all kids, not just a few.
4. What program areas will be the focus of the Foundation’s work in the Corridor?
In order to provide full support for success for children in the Corridor, the program areas that are most important are health and education from birth to career, including healthy early child development, behavioral and emotional health, quality K-12 education, and community and family support.
5. I am part of a non-profit organization working with families in the Children’s Corridor. What is your foundation’s process for grant applications?
In 1992, Piton became an operating foundation. As an operating foundation, there is a more significant commitment to the programs developed and operated to carry out the Foundation’s mission. Therefore, the Piton Foundation no longer accepts unsolicited grant proposals. However, we are eager to learn more about organizations working with children and families in the Corridor in order to inform our strategies and programs. We encourage you to tell us about your organization by completing this form.
6. How will you help to connect funders, nonprofits, and other organizations working for improved outcomes for children in the Corridor?
It is clear that to have true impact and increased success for children at scale, collaborative efforts with many partner organizations is necessary. The Piton Foundation is working to create a platform for collective impact that offers opportunities for action, leveraged funding, shared measures of performance, and innovation. We look forward to helping convene partners to build a framework that promotes collective efforts and shared success.