Region Stories

These stories illustrate how early childhood programs and services funded by First Things First make a difference for young children and families in communities across Arizona.

Grandmother, mother and two small children looking at the camera.

Caregiving program helps Yuma grandmother better understand child development

September 24, 2025
Yuma family friend and neighbor care

Family, Friend and Neighbor Care provides support to informal caregivers who are caring for a small group of young children in a home setting. Read More

Child care scholarship allows Prescott preschooler to soar

8/4/2017
Quality First

When Dove Gunderman or Prescott decided to restart her academic journey to become a speech therapist, her youngest daughter Juliette was 4 years old. The…

Quality First center helps Whiteriver toddler prepare for kindergarten

8/4/2017
Quality First

Audra Cosen of Whiteriver became a single mother to five boys just as her next to youngest son, Ari, turned two.Cosen, who worked as a full-time teacher in…

High quality preschool environment brings out the best in Goodyear girl

8/4/2017
Quality First

Zoe Mullins was only 4 years old when she began beating her father at chess.“It’s not that her dad is a bad player, but that Zoe is just that good,”…

Nogales mother learns how to prepare her daughter for kindergarten

8/4/2017
family support

Yesenia’s baby daughter Melanie was only 18 days old when her mother enrolled in the Healthy Families Arizona program in Nogales.She was already a mom to…

Nogales kindergartner finds success at family resource center

8/4/2017
Santa Cruz

It was a random visit to a neighborhood park where Jessica Fierro first learned about the Nogales Family Resource Center.A conversation with another parent…

Pinal brothers use Fun Van to prepare for kindergarten

8/4/2017
language & literacy

Eli Macias was a quiet 3 year old from Casa Grande when he started participating in the First Things First-funded mobile literacy program called Fun Van. Soon,…

Parents As Teachers shows Cochise County mom how to teach son independence

8/4/2017
family support

First-time mom Athena Reynolds was looking for a support system.“I was clueless,” Reynolds said, thinking back to when her son Alexander was born. “I…

Oro Valley family builds confidence in role as their child’s first teacher

8/4/2017
family support

Angie Hitt had been an elementary school teacher for eight years before she had her first child. She enrolled in the Parents as Teachers home visiting…

Family resource center empowers Phoenix boy to find independence

8/4/2017
family support

Felicitas Padron of Phoenix assumed that her children’s learning started with their kindergarten teacher. The mother of three learned otherwise at the…

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