Overview

Cherish Every Child: A Blueprint for Springfield's Future

"The White House recently named Springfield, Massachusetts the top city in the nation in which to raise children." ~Time Magazine, June 7, 2006

That vision was proposed by a group of community leaders who met in early June to launch a new community wide initiative, Cherish Every Child: A Blueprint for Springfield's Future.

The Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation has long been committed to supporting programs for children, particularly in the area of education. In early 1999, the Foundation began to take a closer look at programs, strategies and initiatives it might support in order to improve the well being of children in Springfield. Mary Walachy, the Foundation's Executive Director, and Margaret Blood, a child policy expert and Foundation consultant, conducted personal interviews with 20 community leaders, from the fields of education, health care, childcare, family support, literacy, advocacy and government, working with or on behalf of Springfield's children and families. Based on the information gathered, a recommendation was made to the Davis Foundation Trustees to convene a citywide initiative that is intended to improve the health and well being of Springfield's youngest residents - birth through age 5.