Wirt County Strong Starts Early Learning Collaborative

The Wirt County Strong Starts Early Learning Collaborative brings families, educators, service providers, and community partners together to help Wirt County’s youngest children thrive. Our work focuses on early childhood development, school readiness, parenting support, family well-being, and improving how families connect with resources throughout the community.

Strong Starts began as a project of the Wirt County Family Resources Network’s Partners in Prevention Team. It was originally created as a monthly early learning and development group for expectant parents and families with children from birth through age three.

The program offered families a welcoming place to learn about their child’s development, participate in age-appropriate activities, connect with other parents, and receive practical support. Families also gained access to diapers, baby and household supplies, resource referrals, and parenting education tailored to their child’s age and developmental stage.

Through the course of the program, Strong Starts was adopted by the Wirt County Family Support Center and expanded into the Wirt County Strong Starts Early Learning Collaborative. What began as a parent education group is growing into a cross-sector effort that connects families with the people, programs, and systems supporting children from birth through school entry.  Today, in addition to the monthly parenting education classes for Strong Starts families, the Strong Starts Early Learning Collaborative brings parents, educators, service providers, and community partners together to identify needs, improve coordination, expand access to resources, and strengthen Wirt County’s early childhood system. 

The Collaborative works to provide parents and caregivers with the education, resources, and practical tools they need to understand early development, encourage learning at home, recognize important milestones, and prepare their children for a successful transition into school. It also creates opportunities for families to help identify community needs and shape the programs and supports developed for Wirt County’s young children.

Strong Starts parenting sessions combine practical information, hands-on learning, parent-child activities, take-home resources, and opportunities for families to connect. Classes have explored topics such as speech and language development through play, developmental milestones, early learning activities, parenting strategies, child safety, first aid, nutrition, and supporting children’s social and emotional development.

One featured session, “Little Voices, Big Milestones: Building Speech Through Play,” brought families together with a local speech-language pathologist to learn simple ways to encourage communication during everyday play. Additional sessions and activities are developed with input from participating families and community partners so that programming reflects the real needs of Wirt County families.

Strong Starts welcomes expectant parents and Wirt County families with young children. Monthly sessions are generally held on the fourth Monday of each month from 1:00–2:00 p.m. at the Wirt County Family Resources Office.

To learn more, register for an upcoming session, become a community partner, or help guide the work of the Collaborative, call 304-275-4833 or follow Wirt County Family Resources on Facebook for current announcements and opportunities.