“Early Intervention and other early childhood programs are key to a child’s development. It helped my daughter and it should be accessible to all without any financial barriers.”

Meet Yolanda! She’s always had a strong voice and community presence on the West Side, but it wasn’t until she had her daughter that she faced barriers and challenges for the first time. When her daughter was born, she had to look for Early Intervention (EI) options and didn’t realize how powerful it would be for her daughter’s outcomes later in life.

“Early intervention changed my daughter’s life,” she said.

Starting at three months old, Yolanda’s daughter received all sorts of therapies, including speech, physical, and occupational. Yolanda said that repetition for the next three years was critical to her growth and vocabulary. 

“I didn’t do any baby talk either,” she said. “Just building routing and giving her consistency. In the beginning, it’s so important to create that structure and tap into resources.”

Many families, especially families of color, don’t often have a streamlined process with EI, though. Some families are on waitlists for months, and some kids even miss out because the waitlist is so long and it’s only available to children ages 0-3. 

That’s why COFI and POWER-PAC IL leaders like Yolanda advocate for and speak out on several early childhood and care issues through the Early Learning Campaign. Parents know how important those first few years of life are and want to see more funding for EI services, child care for all, and more for their kids. 

Even afterward, the system doesn’t make it easy for parents. Yolanda said she was one of the lucky ones. Her daughter was immediately admitted to preschool as a diverse learner after her EI services ended, when she was 3 years old. Yolanda said most diverse learners have to wait until they are 4 or 5 before they start preschool. 

But when it came to kindergarten and getting an IEP (Individualized Education Program) through a nearby school, she discovered that the school down the street couldn’t meet her daughter’s needs. They had to leave the community and travel farther. 

All of Yolanda’s experiences have propelled her into other leadership roles both within and outside of COFI. Not only has she been a Co-Chair of the Early Learning Campaign, but she’s also joined the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement’s (NCPFCE) Family Voice Team to elevate the importance of Head Start, served on advisory committees, and is an Executive Committee member and mentor on Governor JB Pritzker’s Early Learning Council. She’s bringing her wisdom, passion, and lived experiences to advance early childhood policies and advocate for diverse learners. 

“No one else is going to fight and speak up for our children as much as their parents do,” she said. “That’s why I advocate.”