On the south side of Columbus, in a low-income neighborhood, is an early education and child care program that this year celebrates its 100th anniversary. But the work being done within its walls has little to do with the traditional 4-year-old nursery school model. Quite the contrary. The work being done in recent years at South Side Early Learning is on the cutting edge of an early-child education revolution. And it starts when children are just six weeks old. “We get babies ready for life,” said SSEL CEO Colin Page McGinnis. “About 93 percent of brain development happens before age 3. That’s the sweet spot where we need to focus.” “We only have 2,000 days to do this work. The model is broken, and really hasn’t been innovated since the last 1960s. It needs to be whole-family, intentional and it needs to start as early as possible, it needs to start at six weeks.” Based on the SSEL’s innovative approach, outstanding results and Colin’s leadership, The Connor Group Kids & Community Partners is investing $2.2 million over five years to help grow the program’s impact in its current location and beyond. SSEL’s model is based on early-intervention, data-backed decision making, […]

Hospital launches partnership, innovative mental health program

Hospital launches partnership, innovative mental health program

After the storm As Hurricane Dorian slammed the Bahamas in 2019, The Connor Group sprang into action once again asking, “How can we help?” Kids & Community associate Chip Faruki immediately began formulating a strategy. He reached out to Matthew 25: Ministries – a Cincinnati-based nonprofit that specializes in disaster relief. Together, they devised a plan to deliver critical supplies to an orphanage in Nassau. The orphanage is quickly becoming overcrowded as it takes in more and more refugee kids from outer islands destroyed by the storm. Food, water, antibiotics, medical supplies, and personal items are quickly running out. Partner and Chief Pilot Brett Hunter volunteered to fly 30,000 pounds of critical supplies and Matthew 25 relief workers to the Bahamas beginning at 6 a.m. He will make multiple trips from Florida to the Bahamas over the next 3-5 days, each time carrying much-needed supplies and volunteers to multiple orphanages and others in need. This is not the first time The Connor Group and its associates have stepped up in the face of disaster.  Pilots Brett Hunter and Shawn Riffee supported the post-Hurricane Maria relief and evacuation efforts in Puerto Rico in 2017. Larry Connor himself airlifted medical supplies to […]

A Burden Lifted Casey Petrae is an achiever. Senior class vice-president, prom king, active in volunteer work, leader of the school spirit squad, works part-time during the school year, full-time during the summer. He’s shown so much responsibility and maturity beyond his years that his classmates in Vandalia Butler’s class of 2019 nicknamed him the “Class Dad.” So when it came time to apply for colleges, it was safe to assume that Casey checked all the boxes. Except how to pay for it. Enter The Connor Group Kids & Community Partners. In the spring of 2019 Casey interviewed for the organization’s inaugural college scholarship awarded to students whose values aligned with our Connor Group Core Values, were college-bound, and able to demonstrate a financial need. The selection committee was so enamored with Casey’s perseverance and grit that it added to his $5,000 first-place scholarship, surprising him with a much bigger reward during an awards ceremony at his high school. The Connor Group pledged to cover the remaining costs of his freshman year at Ohio State, where he’s now majoring in healthcare administration. And, if he continues to hit certain goals, he’ll receive the same funds throughout his undergrad studies. “I […]