Imagine being three years old.
You don’t know it yet, but the world forming around you right now — the voices, the touch, the stories read at bedtime, the feeling of being safe and seen — is quietly, powerfully building the architecture of who you will become. Eighty percent of brain development happens before a child turns three. Not by age ten. Not by kindergarten. By three.
That truth is what keeps us focused on First Things First.
Five years ago, the Porter County Community Foundation launched First Things First Porter County because we believe that when a community truly takes care of its youngest children, everything else gets better — schools, workforce, health, hope. It is the longest of long games, and it is exactly the kind of work this community foundation was built to champion.
Today, First Things First Porter County brings together 70 partner agencies united around this single, urgent conviction: that the first three years of a child’s life are the most important three years of any life.
In this issue—in mailboxes now and online over the coming weeks— we want to introduce you to three of those partners and the families whose lives are changing because of the work you make possible here in Porter County. Their stories are the reason we do this work. We think they will move you.
This special Annual Report issue highlights organizations and people who strengthen our community by providing connection for community members in recovery, support for students as they enter school, hope for survivors of domestic violence, and resources to preserve the natural beauty of our region.
As we celebrate our 30th anniversary this year, we find ourselves overwhelmed with gratitude — for this community, for partners who show up with excellence and compassion, and for donors like you who believe, as we do, that generosity invested in the right places at the right time changes everything.
You are proof that taking care of First Things First works. Thank you for being part of this.
With gratitude,
Bill Higbie, President & CEO
Matt Vessely, Board Chair
