Live from Lowell, it’s Early Connections!

United Way, the Lowell Early Childhood Advisory Council and Lowell Educational Television team up to help kids.

How do you get the word about all the great learning resources available to families in Lowell? Take to the airwaves! That’s just what United Way’s Wendy Valentine has been doing with “Early Connections,” the new show that’s been airing on Lowell Educational Television on Comcast Channel 22.

“Talking with the Lowell Early Childhood Advisory Council, we asked how we could take advantage of the local television studio,” said Wendy. “How can we reach out the community and connect people with the resources that are there?”

The Lowell Early Childhood Advisory Council is made up of over fifty agencies and community partners working with the young children and their families in the City of Lowell.

A committee of Council members was assembled to highlight resources, tie content to the upcoming Brain Building in Progress campaign, and produce the shows, which focus on the importance of fostering the cognitive, social and emotional development of young children.

The pilot episode took families on a virtual tour of the Pollard Memorial library; walking them through the steps of signing up for their first library card. A future episode will focus on health and encourage families to participate in a free mobile vision clinic hosted by New England Eye.

“There is so much happening in Lowell for young children and families,” said Wendy.  “But families with critical needs can’t always identify the services available to support their children. The show helps us do that in a new and unique way.”

To ensure that the shows are always accessible, episodes have been archived on the Vimeo channel, which you can subscribe to here.

“This is a great example of how United Way facilitates connections in innovative ways,” Wendy says.

Early Connections Episode 01 from Channel 22 on Vimeo.