About 30 people showed up at a town hall meeting designed to introduce Hattiesburg’s Excel By 5 coalition to the community.
“This is about awareness,” said co-certification manager Dan Kibodeaux, who led the meeting Tuesday at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center.
“This is to try to raise awareness of what Excel By 5 is doing to support young children and their families.”
Excel By 5 is a Mississippi-only certification given by the state to communities that invest child care, health care, city, church and education services into families and young children.
Petal has been a certified Excel By 5 community for about four years. Hattiesburg has been working for the past year toward certification.
There are currently 26 cities in the state that are certified or working to become certified.
Kibodeaux told attendees that Hattiesburg’s Excel By 5 coalition is focusing on four areas: community involvement, early care and education, family and parent support and health.
Part of the certification process involves sending surveys out to interested parties.
Kibodeaux said parent surveys indicated several areas of concern including lack of child care after 6 p.m., transportation difficulties, lack of mentors for children and problems with peer pressure.
Andrea Wesley said she attended the community meeting because she has five children who went through the Hattiesburg Public School District.
“I have an interest and concern for the youth and children of Hattiesburg and I think there is so much that can be done,” she said.
Kibodeaux encouraged attendees to help get the word out about Excel By 5 by sharing information about the coalition with neighbors, friends and co-workers.
The coalition has several more tasks to accomplish before it can be certified. Those include receiving surveys from child care providers and holding community events for young children and families.
It’s estimated it may be another year or two before Hattiesburg receives certification.
Dan Kibodeaux