Giving children the
best start possible.
Our mission.
Help Me Grow WNY envisions that children in all counties of our region will have positive experiences during their critical first five years of life that enable them to be healthy, resilient, and prepared to achieve their potential.
Growing by the numbers:
Total Screenings
Children Screened
Counties in
Western New York
Who we are.
Help Me Grow WNY launched in 2011 as the first New York State affiliate of Help Me Grow National Center. We are a collaboration of organizations that serve children ages 0–5 and the adults that care for them. Our work is based on the evidence-informed model currently implemented in 28 states and endorsed by the U.S. Health & Human Services Administration and Department of Education.
Today, Help Me Grow WNY fulfills the role of systems builder, serving as a regional catalyst in forming a shared vision and data-informed action plan. We seek to align and strengthen community resources in a system that responds to the needs of young children and deploys the collective power of the early childhood system to advocate for policy change.
WORKING TOGETHER
Strategic partners with
a shared vision.
Help Me Grow WNY is presented by our three strategic partners that provide their unique capabilities to the success of our organization.
Organizing entity and data collection
Parent Network Management of the Centralized Access Point (CAP)
Program Advocacy
Our staff.
Danielle Galenski
Assistant Director, HMGWNY
Danielle has decades of experience working with children and families in various capacities. She is a passionate advocate for equity and inclusion in early childhood systems, as well as meeting families where they are and treating parents as the experts on their children.
Danielle began her career as a teaching assistant in a therapeutic school setting as well as a Wrap Around program provider offering intensive in-home therapy and parent coaching in Erie County. Most recently, Danielle worked within the Buffalo Public Schools as a Family Support Specialist for Say Yes Buffalo. She was promoted to the Early Childhood Supervisor position, where she successfully worked to build early childhood systems of support district-wide. A graduate of SUNY Buffalo, Danielle also earned her master’s degree in Education from St. Bonaventure University.
Ann Kinney
Centralized Access Point Coordinator
Ann began working at Parent Network of WNY in 2021 as the organization’s Early Childhood Professional Development Specialist. She has recently taken on the role of the Central Access Point Coordinator with Help Me Grow WNY, embedded at Parent Network. Ann holds a dual undergraduate degree in Psychology and Health and Human Services – Early Childhood Development and a master’s degree in Education – both educational credentials from SUNY University at Buffalo.
Her past employment has been centered around early childhood care and learning. Prior to Parent Network, Ann was the Director of a childcare center for seven years. She was also an elementary teacher in Maryland for nine years. Ann is proud of and passionate about the Western New York area and strives to help the local community.
Kim Stewart
Director of Early Childhood at CCNY, Inc.
Kim oversees Help Me Grow WNY and CCNY’s PEDALS program. She has dedicated her life to uplifting children, their families, and the communities that nurture them. Kim has devoted her time to working with children who have experienced hardships, which led her to a deeper understanding of trauma, its impact, and the importance of resiliency. This collective experience motivated Kim to earn her master’s degree in Education and Leadership.
As a grandparent of a child with special needs, Kim brings a personal perspective on the importance of early screening and how screenings can truly support a child’s educational journey in a supportive and impactful way. Kim was honored as the 2019 recipient of the Western New York Educator Award. She was selected to participate in the Health Leadership Fellows Cohort 10. Kim continues to share her expertise as an adjunct professor at Empire State College and as a local, regional, and national conference presenter.
Rachel Bonsignore
Director, Liftoff WNY
Rachel leads all aspects of Liftoff’s strategic and impact agendas. For the past 25 years, Rachel has prioritized community engagement and policy change advocacy to improve the lives of children and families in our region and has actively contributed to national, state, and regional alliances.
Before joining Liftoff, Rachel previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Director of Community Health Initiatives at The Children’s Agenda in Rochester, New York. Rachel graduated from Dickinson College with a degree in Environmental Policy and completed a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from St. John Fisher College. Most proudly, Rachel has spent the past four years focusing on early childhood development in her own household with two young daughters.
Emily Oaks
Lead Data Strategist
Emily is part of CCNY, Inc.’s Evaluation and Analytics team. She has 14 years of experience working in the non-profit sector, providing direct service to clients as well as developing and implementing complex programs with community members and partners to achieve results. Emily has created and maintained program evaluation, quality assurance, and staff evaluation metrics for nonprofits in a variety of sectors, including health care, education, and social support networks. She is involved with CCNY within the capacity of data analysis, data visualization, report generation, and data warehouse maintenance.
Community partners – how your organization can get involved.
Help Me Grow WNY partners with over 200 medical providers, early care and learning centers, school districts, and community-based organizations to integrate early childhood screenings and improve the lives of families.
Partnering with Help Me Grow WNY provides the following benefits:
> Allows access to regularly updated data on your organization’s progress, impact, and population-level screening scores
> Provides individualized support in implementing ASQ screenings into your workflow
> Gives your organization a voice in local and state-wide advocacy efforts
Building a meaningful system with quality data.
Help Me Grow WNY utilizes data to execute the program’s plan, understand progress toward goals, identify system gaps and redundancies, and promote learning. As one of our strategic partners, CCNY, Inc. leads data collection and analysis efforts.
The following data has been collected through Ages & Stages Questionnaires® completed by parents/caregivers, as well as through our collaborations with public agencies, nonprofit child-serving agencies, child health professionals, and early childhood education providers.
For more information on partnership opportunities,
contact Danielle Galenski, HMGWNY Director of Outreach and Engagement, at dgalenski@hmgwny.org.
For more information on partnership opportunities,
contact Danielle Galenski, Assistant Director, HMGWNY, at dgalenski@hmgwny.org.