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EdNC is highlighting the experiences of educators, families, researchers, and advocates with a stake in North Carolina’s early care and learning landscape. These profiles illustrate that care and education are inseparable, especially in a child’s first five years — caregivers educate, and educators care. In this series, we refer to those profiled in the way they are known by their community.
Down a shaded side street in Manteo is a house with blue stairs that lead to a wide front porch, with a matching blue railing and a blue front door. Except for a sign in the front yard, and a small parking area on one side, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is just another large, charming home on Roanoke Island.
That’s by design.
The house originally served as a group home for children and youth in foster care. As the needs of the community evolved, it became the headquarters for the Children and Youth Partnership for Dare County (CYP), led by Sara Sampson.
Sara beams when sharing the building’s origin story. As the parent of two teenagers who joined her family through adoption — and as a former licensed foster parent herself — she takes pride in the way this space serves children and families in her community.
‘We’re making a big difference’
“I grew up in a very supportive family, which has inspired my passion for helping children and families,” Sara told EdNC on a recent visit.
Sara was raised in Sweden and got her start in early education by interning with early childhood programs in high school, and working in child care during the summer. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in child and youth education, and in 2005 began working for CYP, the Smart Start partner for Dare County.
“Research tells us that those first five years are critical for children’s brain development and their health,” Sara said. “And for me, it’s just really rewarding to be able to be part of something that’s so critical.”
She began as a child care startup specialist, recruiting family child care homes and supporting them through the licensure process.
“Already back then we had a lack of child care in our community, so that’s not a new issue that we’re dealing with,” Sara said.
Twenty years later as CYP’s executive director, she’s still combating the child care shortage.
Sara shared that according to recent data, among Dare County children under age 6 who live in a household where the sole or both parents are working, less than one-third are enrolled in a licensed child care program.
“As a Smart Start network, we are in a position to make a difference in our local communities, since it is a county-based structure,” Sara said.
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The organization is in the process of assessing child care needs in Dare County through a community survey. Sara said CYP aims to better understand the challenges families face in accessing child care, in addition to identifying the types of support and services that would be most beneficial to the community.
But she already knows that low wages play a major role in the ongoing child care crisis, especially in Dare County, where the cost of housing is high.
“We have to find ways to ensure that our early educators are well supported and have a livable wage, so we can improve that quality of care and reduce turnover,” Sara said.
“One of the challenges that we’re facing is just the growing need and lack of funding for early care and education,” Sara said.
‘A very caring and giving community’
In 2017, thanks to a matching grant from the Outer Banks Community Foundation, CYP started an endowment fund, with the goal of establishing a stable source of funding for generations to come.
CYP also hosts the annual Soundside Fun Fair carnival to kick off the summer season and raise funds for the many programs they offer across the community. This year’s carnival will take place June 5-8.
“We’re very fortunate to live in a very caring and giving community,” Sara said. “We have some great donors and sponsors that have supported us over the years.”
CYP offers a wide range of programs, including a diaper bank, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, Reach Out and Read, organized playgroups, evidence-based parent and family support services, as well as the opportunity for families to bring their children to play and learn with other members of the community.
On a Wednesday in May, neighbors Darian Cerza and Mikayla Braswell were doing just that.
They walked up the blue stairs, entered through the blue door, and signed in to use CYP’s spacious and sunny playroom.
Braswell said she was on maternity leave from teaching fifth grade at Manteo Elementary. She brought along 4-month-old Delaney and 19-month-old Tatem to take advantage of the enrichment opportunities offered by CYP.
Cerza brought 2-week-old Opie — short for Orville, “like the Wright brother” — and 2-year-old Faewyn “to get out of the house,” she said with a laugh. She also brought her husband’s aunt, Janet Cerza, along for support.
It was Opie’s first time joining the playgroup, and Sara couldn’t take her eyes off him. She stuck close to him while she checked in with his mom about his first two weeks in the world, making sure Cerza had access to the resources CYP offers. When she eventually managed to tear herself away for a meeting, she asked both families to let her know if they needed anything while they were there.
Local fundraising helps make all of this possible, and also contributes to CYP’s ability to host an annual KidsFest event, which offers free music, games, crafts, exploration, and play activities for children and families. This year almost 2,000 people attended KidsFest in May.
“It’s such an honor to be able to be part of such a wonderful organization and Smart Start network, because I know we’re making a big difference,” Sara said.
‘Invest where it matters most’
The opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children and their families is what motivates Sara’s leadership at CYP.
“Our children are our future. Early care and education is the most important investment we can make,” Sara said.
One investment that she says would make a meaningful difference is statewide funding for the Child Care WAGE$ Program, which provides education-based salary supplements to early childhood educators using local Smart Start funds:
Currently, the WAGE$ program is something that is funded at a local level, and I think if that’s something that could be expanded to be statewide, that could truly make a difference in ensuring that our educators have a livable wage, and that would reduce our turnover, and ensure that our children have an opportunity to thrive and be in healthy, safe environments, and our parents can remain in the workforce, which can then turn into strengthening our economy.
With 20 years of experience at CYP and the support of a team she calls “incredible,” Sara thinks about the impact of their work in generational terms.
“I think it’s critical that we invest in the early years, since we know that rapid brain development occurs during those first years, and our children are our future — they are our future workforce, our future parents, our future doctors, educators, leaders,” Sara said. “So we do need to invest where it matters most.”
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