FirstSpark, formerly known as Smart Beginnings, extends a nod to the first years of a child’s life — the spark that happens when a child learns and grows — the spark that reaches an entire community, united to make a difference for children and their future, says Diane Umstead, FirstSpark’s executive director.
While Smart Beginnings covered nine regions across the Commonwealth, the newly branded FirstSpark expands that reach from the lower Peninsula to middle Peninsula, all the way to Colonial Beach, going into Gloucester, Matthews, King and Queen, Lancaster, Westmoreland counties and beyond.
Operating as lead agency, FirstSpark’s mission is to stand “shoulder to shoulder with parents, educators and the community for the future of every child under five,” Umstead says. Specifically, the goal is to identify the gap in resources available to children ages 0-5 and work to close that gap by raising awareness, providing access to resources needed and bringing people together to shape the future through these children.
For example, a parent whose child has significant motor delay likely has resources available to them through FirstSpark to help the parent and child mitigate those problems and facilitate the child’s success. Many, however, are unaware that such resources even exist, which is precisely the place, or the gap, FirstSpark steps in to assist.
FirstSpark recognizes that family and community are the center of a child’s life, with schools, pediatricians and home programs serving as part of each child’s support system. “We have to honor experience, choices, values and wrap them up in a quilt of support,” Umstead says. “This is the next generation; what we do now makes a difference for a lifetime.”
To ensure as many people as possible are being reached, FirstSpark, partnering with StepAhead, came up with a family-texting pilot program for those without Wi-Fi. It was a six-month pilot with about 50 participants, 70 percent of whom had children ranging in age from birth to five years. Those in the pilot program would receive messages about various topics, family activities and local events available to them, says Umstead. The program was quite successful, with some folks even texting back to express their gratitude for the services provided.
Kami Cohorst, business development director of StepAhead, says, “Our innovative collaboration with FirstSpark proved to be successful. We were able to establish an SMS text messaging program that produced significant results in the areas of positive behavior change and engagement for families.” SMS is a Short Message Service, and the most common form of text messaging used today. Though it was only a pilot program, Umstead says, “We would like to keep it going and find partners and investors who think that resourcing families in the text program is beneficial.”
Services like the texting program increase engagement within families, resulting in positive changes over time. The goal now is to not only raise funds but also to scale up the service and replicate it across communities. “Right now, families are carrying these responsibilities themselves and educators are struggling to make sure kids under their care succeed,” Umstead says. “We need to ignite and spark the community to get behind resourcing and engaging families.”
Umstead has been serving in this field for 46 years and intends to retire at the end of December 2024. With a clear passion for children and their success, Umstead says she will stay engaged even after she’s retired. With her free time, though, she will be able to do other things she enjoys, like hiking, walking outside under the trees — or “tree bathing” as she calls it, all the while enjoying parks in Newport News and Yorktown. And, while she’s exploring, she can also take more time to read her favorite genre, historical fiction, because, as she says, “What we learn from the past could help us for the future.”
TO THE POINT:
FirstSpark
Address: 11832 Canon Blvd., Ste. F, Newport News, VA 23606
Contact: Diane Umstead, executive director
Phone: 757-240-2731 Ext. 203
Cell: 919-830-6288
Email: dumstead@firstsparkva.org
Website: www.firstsparkva.org
