The following is a brief history of the organization from the perspective of our founder, Carolyn Myer.

"I was first introduced to the Montessori Method by a friend whose children attended a program that was run out of the teacher’s home. I enrolled my children and was impressed with the impact it had on my children.

In 1999 I looked for work in the community as a Montessori teacher. My goal was to obtain a teaching position at a Montessori school, but I had no training as a Montessori teacher. After scaling back on my goal, I accepted an assistant teacher’s position down the street from my house at the Montessori School of Baton Rouge (MSBR). The peaceful atmosphere at the school blew me away. The children were working in an attractive environment and the director was warm and gracious. I expressed to her my goal to open a school in an area of Baton Rouge where children could not afford a Montessori education.

Two months after accepting the position as a teacher’s assistant some changes occurred at MSBR. I was now deep into the Montessori training and was overwhelmed at the magnitude of the training. The change at MSBR involved a teacher stepping back to attend to family issues and they offered me the position as a classroom team teacher.  The trust that the director showed in my capabilities was humbling. Overcoming my fear, I accepted and forged on to obtain my credentials in the spring of 2001, while working full time.

During my time at MSBR I grew in my appreciation of the opportunity, but I continued to think about my goal of opening a school. At the end of the spring semester of 2001, I decided to test my commitment to a school and began working from my home. My husband transformed our garage into my school room, and I recruited 6 students. The work in my little school room proved my passion had some substance behind it and I began looking for board members within my church family.

In 2003, I started recruiting the board of directors from church. One of the people who showed interest was Melissa Peck, a marriage and family therapist and the wife of our minister at the time. She offered to work with the parents while I worked with their children. The partnership seemed logical to me and so we forged on to create a nonprofit.

The organization originated as the South Baton Rouge Christian Children’s Foundation (SBRCCF). Naming the organization SBRCCF seemed logical. We used a “Back to School Giveaway” that the church had sponsored for years as a continued outreach. A partnering school was Buchanan Elementary which was in Old South Baton Rouge. We had support and encouragement in our mission to educate children from the South Baton Rouge Church of Christ.

As I look back on my original goal, I realize there were many lessons I learned along the way to get to the original goal of opening a Montessori preschool. There are some things I would have changed and others I would not have changed. During our seven years of operation, the South Baton Rouge Christian Children’s Foundation morphed into Key Foundations. The following programs evolved out of our work in the community: 

1. 2008-Key Foundations Preschool

Our first location was the Old Carver Library located on Highland Road. We loved the location, but it did not work due to extensive and expensive licensing requirements. Upon hearing the YWCA’s Child Care Center had closed, KF rented that space. After meeting licensing requirements, we opened our doors to children. KF Preschool opened, and many parents showed an interest in our program.

We worked hard to figure out ways to make the sliding scale payment plan work for parents. Based on available funding we hired individuals with their Child Development Associate Certificate (CDA) and experience working with children. Louisiana Child Care Assistance funding helped many families access funding they needed to attend our school. We received funding for the work through Valero and through the “Angel Award,” provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation. Due to a lack of outside funding and after struggling for 3 years the board decided to close the school. Our new goal was to find another avenue to educate children and sustain the program. We had a host of individuals who donated to the work of the preschool.

2. 2006-Girls Club

The Girls Club began as an outreach to girls 8-15 years who lived in the Old South Baton Rouge Community. During the Spring Break of 2005, a test program for girls was done to gauge the level of interest. More than fifteen girls responded that week and requested more meetings. The official Girls Club did not begin until January 2006. We continued that work through May of 2011. The Girls Club work was supported by Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield through the “Angel Award.” We had a host of individual donors who donated to the Girls Club. We were excited to have volunteers from Louisiana State Universities’ Women Studies Class work with us during our final year.

3. 2005-Re-Entry Program            

The re-entry began with funding from a federal grant that Melissa Peck wrote. A partnering organization called “Refined by Fire” worked with the ex-offenders and SBRCCF would work with their wives and children. The $250,000 grant from the Federal Government was to be issued that October. Melissa Peck’s family moved from Baton Rouge during the fall. During that fall, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana devastating several parishes and the prison system was disrupted due to flooding in the New Orleans area. We continued the program and accepted the federal dollars despite Melissa Peck’s absence.

Achievements:

 Re-entry program-We provided services to over 100 men and their families. The services included re-entry preparation, parenting and child development classes, support groups for significant others, connections to job opportunities, and located housing placements.

Girls Club-More than 70 girls benefitted from the program. Girls from the community attended different parts of the program at various times. We provided meetings opportunities, training, health workshops, weekend camping trips and a Girls Club Tea Party.

Key Foundations Preschool-More than 50 children benefited from our Montessori based program. We provided a Montessori type environment and child development education to the parents of the children.

Lessons learned:

1. Guard the mission.How to run a nonprofit organization

3. The needs of people can be overwhelming.

4. Resources provided helped.

5. Healthier for people to making an effort rather than get things free

6. Parents of diverse backgrounds really want the best for their children. )

7. Children thrive in stimulating environments.

8. Partnerships get more done.

9. The board needs to be diverse.

10. Fundraising is essential"