The Parent-Child+ nationwide network of program sites provides low-income families with the necessary skills and tools to ensure their children achieve their greatest potential in school and in life. Since opening its doors, The King Urban Life Center has utilized the ParentChild+ proven school readiness program to build early parent-child verbal interaction and learning at home. To this end, the King Urban Life Center successfully participated in a second recertification of the site in April of 2017, to ensure that the program maintains fidelity to the National Model as a high-quality site. Currently, the Parent-Child+ Program serves 60 families across the city of Buffalo.

In 2017, we were honored that the National Parent-Child+ Program selected KULC parent, Mr. Valentino Shine, as a 'parent advocate' to meet with congressional representatives in Washington D.C.  Mr. Shine has two sons who graduated from the KULC Parent-Child+ Program and understands the importance and the value of starting education early in the home.  

Participants of the ParentChild+ program are assigned an Early Learning Specialist who visits two times a week for 30 minutes each visit.  Early Learning Specialists are there to provide access to educational books and toys that are gifted to the families.  The ELS and families engage in a joyous educational encounter. This is accomplished through the ELS modeling for the caregiver, different skills, and techniques to engage the child in school readiness skills, such as identifying parts of a book, color recognition, counting, numeral recognition, listening skills, recall, turn-taking, sharing, positive praise, and many other skills.

The King Urban Life Center afterschool STEAM Team is free of charge to all participants in grades K-8. We deliver exceptional service by engaging and exposing students to a wide variety of educational and cultural programming they may otherwise not experience. Our afterschool STEAM Team supports a variety of innovative school-age programs through various partnerships throughout the city of Buffalo. Some of our many collaborators include our long-standing relationship with the Buffalo Museum of Science which offers weekly inhouse science activities. Zandra Beauty, Buffalo’s own kidpreneur turned beauty mogul, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Osanii Productions dance program, Algonquin Sports, Buffalo Urban Leagues Project Hope, CEPA Gallery, The Buffalo Philharmonic, Torn Space Theater, Grassroots Gardens, and many others. 

Applications are available upon contacting Ms. Cheryl Williams-Manney at 716.895.2050 or by email at cwmanney@kingurbanlifecenter.org.