Letter from Co-Chairs Libbie & Rochelle

A Call to Action: Geaux Big for Louisiana’s Little Ones

Dear Champion for Children, 

Louisiana's youngest children and their families should be thriving, not just surviving. Yet, too many families with children, prenatal to age five, struggle to access the information, resources, networks, programs, and services they need during the earliest years of their child’s life. In Louisiana, our systems are disjointed, under-resourced, and not sufficiently responsive to families. 

Simply put, we have to do better. Our children are far too valuable not to. We believe we can create an equitable, unified, child- and family-centered early childhood system that centers racial equity and ensures families have access to seamless, high-quality early childhood development, health, and educational services.

That is why we created Geaux Far Louisiana—to dream big for our littlest and most vulnerable ones—particularly our children from prenatal to age three. As the old African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The Geaux Far Louisiana planning process engaged thousands of families, service providers, community leaders, and advocates for young children and their families from across the state. We are honored to present the enclosed plan, which represents the dreams of Louisiana’s families for our young children and articulates a path to achieving this vision that unites our coalition. 

Now the real work begins to make this vision a reality in Louisiana. We need your help. Implementing this plan will require an unprecedented level of investment and effort across communities and the public and private sectors. It takes nothing short of a paradigm shift. Geaux Far Louisiana requires all of us to recognize that providing for the health, well-being, and education of our young children and their families is a public good, and a valuable and
worthwhile investment. We encourage you to get involved in making this dream a reality at www.geauxfarla.org. Together, we can Geaux Far for Louisiana’s children!