Early in 2018, we gathered the King Street Center Board and staff team to launch a strategic planning process. We really felt like it was time! We were comfortable in our beautiful new facility. We expanded our program profile to include an Early Head Start Toddler Program. We added an Associate Director to our staff team. The Board of Directors felt was time to re-examine our work and to look ahead to identify how to ensure quality work within our community!” Melanie Goodman of Youth Catalytics was hired to help facilitate this ongoing exploration. First steps included identifying “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats.” Over the course of the following year, a shared vision, mission statement, strategic direction, as well as a draft of a working action plan through 2021 emerged.

Today King Street Center’s work is driven by three Strategic Planning Goals with an evolving list of priorities beneath each one:

  • Ensure Quality
  • Expand Engagement
  • Elevate our Brand

While each priority has its own timeline, the most important to Board and Staff was the determination to identify urgent needs. What programs already exist in the community? Where are there gaps? What do families need most? Over the winter, Dacia Ostlund, Associate Director, started a Needs Assessment to try to answer some of these questions. Parents gathered in focus groups to offer candid feedback. Recent alumni and current students met in-person and also responded to survey questions about their own King Street Center experience. Importantly, staff weighed in, providing perspective on their experience as employees and also to identify glaring needs they see among the kids in our program.

We want to make sure our community has a voice, too! You are involved in our programs at so many levels. You volunteer, you provide financial support, you make enrichment programs available to our youth, you care for our kids at school and through other non-profit services, and you may be simply neighbors or business owners who care. Regardless, we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Please take a few minutes to fill out this form. We really appreciate your time!