Partly Cloudy The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Is there a brighter ray of sunshine than Donna Smythe While we fret over the economy, housing market or
retail numbers, the executive director of the Child Development Association in Roswell brims with hope. “Our motto is ‘Great starts, bright futures,’ ” said Smythe, whose private, nonprofit organization serves about 145 children from low-income families. The association, which turned 40 last year, provides affordable child care and early learning programs. “We’re educating the kids, we’re supporting the parents and we’re building the community,” she said. “They are going to land at the kindergarten door so ready to launch that it’s just uphill from there.” The various young people who come to the center speak eight or nine native languages. Their parents, Smythe says, hold the sort of jobs that pay little but keep the community going. “They’re the people who check you out in the grocery store or clean the building after you leave,” she said. “The pyramid is built on a foundation. My parents are the basis of it all.”
As you might expect, the CDA is seeing greater need for its services and relies on community support to maintain its staff of 38 and facility of 10 classrooms.