Guilford Child Development Celebrates a Milestone! Forty years ago, a unique group of community organizations joined hands to consolidate into a single agency their independent efforts to provide quality child care for working families in Greensboro who were in need of financial assistance and wanted affordable child care. The Metropolitan Council of Negro Women, the Greensboro Section of the National Council of Jewish Women, the Greensboro Housing Authority, the Greensboro Community Council and various community leaders brought together a coalition of groups interested in addressing the issue of affordable and available child care which resulted in the establishment of a single entity – United Day Care Services, Inc. (UDCS). The United Way of Greater Greensboro (previously named the United Fund) helped to spear-head this effort. UDCS’ services soon expanded to include High Point and all of Guilford County.

After two name changes, UDCS is now Guilford Child Development (GCD) providing services to over 5000 children and families a year through its four programs: Head Start/Early Head Start, Regional Child Care Resources & Referral, Catering for Kids, and Nurse Family Partnership. GCD currently has over 300 employees and is one of the largest nonprofits in Guilford County.

2007 marks our 40th anniversary and GCD has much to celebrate. GCD’s Head Start/Early Head Start is the largest single county Head Start program in the state serving 1040 young children and their families. Over 4000 children and families receive child care referral services in Guilford County and nutritional services in 55 North Carolina counties through GCD’s Regional Child Care Resources & Referral program. Catering for Kids now serves over 1100 hot lunches daily to low income children in child development centers in Guilford County. In recent years GCD added Nurse-Family Partnership Program (NFP), an evidence-based nurse home visitation program headquartered in Denver; which has been replicated in twenty states drawing national recognition for its positive outcomes.

We are pleased to work with so many valuable and committed community partners here in Guilford County and across the state and hope to engage you in 2007 and beyond as we celebrate 40 years and focus attention on the critical importance of early intervention and quality education in the lives of children and families.