Great Start Collaborative • September 2, 2026
Community Collaboration: Strengthening Support Networks
The community of Livingston County reflects on a year of partnership, celebrating the achievements of Help Me Grow Livingston, and planning future initiatives to bolster support for families with young children.
This year, members of the Great Start Collaborative gathered, symbolically holding a yarn web, representing the interconnected support system of Livingston County. This visual metaphor emphasized the collective effort required to assist local families, as no single entity can achieve this alone.
During this gathering, a poignant question was posed:
What happens if someone drops their piece of the web?
A participant responded with a simple yet profound answer: “I’d pick it up.” Little did they know the significance this statement would hold.
Sustaining Support Through Challenges
Facing uncertainties in traditional funding, Great Start Livingston and its partners remained committed to supporting families. Community organizations, libraries, and volunteers collaborated to maintain family-centric activities like playdates, developmental outreach, and literacy events.
But the work didn’t stop.
A partner noted at a September meeting that not every community managed to uphold their collaborative efforts during this transition. However, Livingston County persevered.
Livingston County did.
When we needed someone to pick up the string, this community did.
The community’s resilience and shared resources have been pivotal in continuing to support families during these times.
Fostering Connections
The September meeting underscored the value of personal connections within the Collaborative. Members reflected on their motivations and influences through interactive discussions.
Partners used an index card to reflect on three questions and then moved around the room to share their answers with one another:
YOUR WHY:
What core value or passion drives your commitment to this community collaborative work?
WHO INFLUENCES YOU:
Whose voices, mentorship, or perspective do you seek out before making decisions?
WHO DO YOU INFLUENCE:
Who looks to you for guidance or partnership in this work? Whose voice can you lift up?
Every person in the room brings relationships, experiences, and influence. Those connections are what make a Collaborative work.
The Growth of Help Me Grow Livingston
Help Me Grow Livingston continued to facilitate connections for families seeking developmental support. The 2025 Impact Report highlights these achievements:
79%
Connected to Services
54
Developmental Screenings
In 2025, Help Me Grow recorded 676 contacts with families, 1,166 families reached through outreach, 95 referrals, 103 partner connections, and 125 trainings completed. From January 1 to September 1, 2026, there have been 471 inquiries.
These statistics represent families looking for guidance on their child’s development and a community dedicated to facilitating these connections.
Planning for the Future
The heart of the September meeting was a collaborative dialogue.
While the Help Me Grow framework guides the process, it’s the community’s insights and experiences that will shape its implementation in Livingston County.
During the meeting, partners reviewed a draft work plan for FY27, discussing what should be kept, strengthened, added, and connected.
CENTRALIZED ACCESS
How can families find the right support without having to know where to start?
FAMILY & COMMUNITY OUTREACH
How do we make sure families know support exists and trust the pathways to it?
CHILD HEALTH PROVIDER OUTREACH
How can health providers become stronger partners in connecting families early?
DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS
What can local data and family experiences teach us about gaps, barriers, and opportunities to improve?
Feedback and Insights
The discussion generated valuable ideas and inquiries about the system being developed.
Family voice: How do we make sure families’ experiences continue to shape the system as our work evolves?
No wrong door: How can families enter through different trusted organizations and still find their way to the right support?
Help Me Grow and 211: How can these systems complement one another and make referrals easier for families and partners?
Partner knowledge: How do we make sure community partners understand Help Me Grow well enough to confidently connect families?
Health care connections: How can pediatricians and other health providers become stronger pathways to developmental and community supports?
Family experience: Where can we reduce barriers and make developmental screening and resource navigation easier?
Data and learning: What information should we collect, how do we protect families’ privacy, and how can we use what we learn to identify gaps and improve the system?
How will we know we’re making the early childhood system easier for families to navigate, not simply doing more activities?
These questions remain open and require continued collaboration to address.
That’s the value of continuing to learn and work together.
Incorporating Family Input
Throughout the meeting, the importance of incorporating family experiences into system design was emphasized. Great Start Livingston has long prioritized family voices, and as alignment with Help Me Grow increases, engaging parents and caregivers remains critical to understanding their challenges and successes.
Success isn’t simply holding more events or making more referrals.
We want families to experience a community that is genuinely easier to navigate.
We want fewer families to say,
“I wish I would have known about that.”
Reflecting on Summer Initiatives
Summer activities showcased the potential of collaborative efforts, with a focus on younger families. Listening to Early On providers prompted the inclusion of activities for infants, emphasizing developmental milestones and parental connection.
And we saw more babies than ever before.
This example illustrates how listening and adapting can enhance community outreach effectively.
Future Directions
The FY27 work plan remains in draft form. Feedback from Collaborative members will refine it as the community continues to receive guidance and develop future strategies.
Partner contributions will be analyzed for themes that align with upcoming challenges and opportunities.
Continuing the Dialogue
Today’s discussion is a step forward, not an endpoint. We will use partner insights to strengthen the draft, learn from families and community partners, and build a plan that serves Livingston County effectively.
Our purpose remains clear.
Connect Livingston County families with young children to the people, information, developmental supports, and resources they need. Continue building a community where families don’t have to figure it all out alone.
For Livingston County Families
Get Connected to Help Me Grow Livingston
Have a question about your child’s development? Looking for a local program, parenting support, preschool information, developmental screening, or another resource for your family?
You don’t have to know which program to call first. Help Me Grow Livingston is here to listen, help you sort through your options, and connect you with resources and supports that fit your family’s needs.
Families can also connect with Help Me Grow for developmental screening using the ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2. These screenings can help parents and caregivers learn more about how their child is growing, learning, communicating, moving, and interacting with others.
Not sure whether Help Me Grow is the right place to start?
That’s okay. Reach out anyway. Helping families find the right next step is exactly what Help Me Grow is designed to do.
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