The July after I graduated from high school, I went on a weeklong church missions trip to Washington, DC. During the trip we interacted with two distinct groups of kids. There were the “street kids” – the kids who lived in the area of the church we were staying. They were fun to be with, but you could tell that they were headed for trouble. Living completely unsupervised lives, these kids would ring the doorbell of the church in the middle of the night, use language that most adults would be embarrassed to use, and often grope the girls – not a good sign of things to come for a 4 or 5 year old kid. The second group of kids were the kids we worked with in a nursery school program. They were some of the sweetest, most polite kids that I’ve ever met. It seemed obvious that the free nursery school program for these kids was working. Still, these children faced an uncertain future. As we were leaving the school to go to a local pool to teach the kids how to swim, many of the children said what’s up to a guy standing on the street corner. I thought it was nice that there was such a sense of community for these kids, until one of the teachers told me that this guy happened to be a crack dealer. Despite this startling fact, it still seemed that these kids were headed on the right track. I don’t remember the name of the nursery school program that I worked with, but Bright Beginnings appears to be doing similar work to help provide better futures for impoverished children in the DC area.

Help Make Beginnings Brighter

I think my story illustrates how important nursery school can be in making the way for success in a child’s life. Even children who are lucky enough to be part of programs like the one I worked with or Bright Beginnings face significant challenges because of the environment that they live in. Bright Beginnings is all about doing its best to give children a good start in life. Not only do they provide nursery school education for homeless children, but they also provide relief for homeless parents. Many homeless parents can’t maintain a job because they must take care of a child. Bright Beginnings allows the parents to get back on their feet and build a new life in which they can escape homelessness and eventually move their children into a more nurturing environment.

Bright Beginnings currently has 6 job openings, and a number of them look well suited for new college grads. The opportunities that look most geared towards the entry-level are Infant/Toddler Teacher (Day & Evening), Recruitment and Family Education Coordinator, LGSW – Social Worker, and Family and Health Services Specialist. All of the jobs are located in Washington, DC, and you can apply by sending your cover letter and resume to bgaines@brightbeginningsinc.org. There is a ton of information about Bright Beginnings on their website, so be sure to follow the links below to continue your research.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• BrightBeginningsInc.org
• Jobs at Bright Beginnings
• Bright Beginnings’ Jobs on Idealist
• About Bright Beginnings
• Bright Beginnings’ Success Stories
• Programs Offered by Bright Beginnings
• Quick Facts About Bright Beginnings
• Article from the Washington Post on Bright Beginnings

Have you ever worked with inner-city children in DC? What were your experiences like?

We've identified Bright Beginnings as having career opportunities in the following categories:

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• education
• non-profit
• recruiting
• teaching
• Washington DC

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One response to “Bright Beginnings”

1. Andrew Breza says:

   October 2, 2008 at 1:24 pm

   I used to volunteer at Bright Beginnings and it is a wonderful program with a lovely work environment.

   Reply