Betty Kinsman honored for her leadership at parent child center

Betty Kinsman, the founding director of the Springfield Area Parent Child Center, was honored Tuesday for her 22 years of devotion to young children and their families.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20140129/NEWS02/701299911

Betty Kinsman, the founder and longtime executive director of the Springfield Area Parent Child Center, was honored Tuesday with accolades, stories and roses. Photo: PHOTO BY LEN EMERYPublished January 29, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Betty Kinsman honored for her leadership at parent child center By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer NORTH SPRINGFIELD — Betty Kinsman, the founding director of the Springfield Area Parent Child Center, was honored Tuesday for her 22 years of devotion to young children and their families. And Kinsman was also teased for her ability to start the center, thanks to Thin Mints. Kinsman and a group of like-minded Springfield area educators first approached Tom Kennedy, the executive director of the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, about some help with writing a grant. Kennedy, who was at Tuesday’s reception honoring Kinsman and her retirement, said he told Kinsman the organization usually charges 8 percent of the total value of the grant. “‘We have no money, can you help us?’” is what Kennedy recalled Kinsman asking. “We want to buy the building next door.” What was his pay for the work on the grant that allowed the parent child center to buy its first home on Myrtle Street in Springfield? Kinsman was a Girl Scout leader, and you guessed it — a couple of boxes of Girl Scout cookies, to be specific, Thin Mints. Kennedy said that the 1992 grant had paid wonderful dividends for him — annual payments in the form of boxes of Girl Scout cookies. But Kennedy said that the parent child center also offered him a personal return, when he got help from staff in dealing with his young — and very active — son. “They gave me very valuable advice on how to raise a child like Connor,” he said, laughing. Kinsman said the center was first started in 1992 in the basement of Park Street School, and at that point was an early education program run by the Springfield School District. She was working in early education, and there was one parenting class taught yearly in the community. The need was great, Kinsman said. She said a group of professionals interested in early childhood issues, including the schools, the state Department of Health and mental health services, got together and realized there weren’t enough parenting classes. Seed money for the organization came from a $10,000 appropriation, arranged by Sen. Dick McCormack, D-Windsor, she said. The late Bill Steele, a former Springfield town manager, was also very helpful in getting funding for the startup, she said. And she and Marty Hammond were the first “very part-time” staff at the center, which now has 40 employees, including the PlayWorks Child Center, a day care center that serves 59 children in five rooms. The parent child center provides home visits to new families, parenting education and support, child care support services and early intervention screening. It pulls together funding from 37 different sources, according to Sherry Hatt, who has succeeded Kinsman as executive director. The center also runs Myrtle’s Closet, a thrift store that also serves as a job training site. Along the way, the center adopted its motto, “Strong Communities, One Family at a Time.” It moved into its current location in 2011. The Springfield center became one of 15 centers across the state serving children and families. Before Springfield opened, the closest centers were in Brattleboro and White River Junction, she said. “Each parent child center is very different,” said Kinsman, surrounded by the hubbub of dozens of people Tuesday afternoon during a reception in her honor. Springfield had a slight difficulty because another organization — the Springfield Family Center — was already in existence, Kinsman said. Hatt, a 20-year employee at the parent child center, is the new executive director. The nonprofit group relies on government funding, as well as fundraising. Peg Grimard of Windsor, chairwoman of the board of the center, presented Kinsman with a bouquet of 22 roses — a rose for every year at the center. And former board chairwoman Amy Hill of Weathersfield announced that the playground in back of the center would be named in her honor: “Betty’s Backyard.” 2014TopNewStories