When children get off to the right start, they do better their whole lives.

The Mimi and Peter Haas Fund believes every child deserves access to quality early childhood education. The Fund supports organizations that provide high-quality early care and education to San Francisco’s low-income children ages 0 to 5 and their families.

Why Early Childhood?

A child’s early years

are the foundation for future development, providing a strong base for lifelong learning including cognitive and social development.

Scientific studies

show that positive stimulation of a child’s brain during the critical first years of life lays the foundation for the child’s future ability to learn.

Investing

in early childhood education is an investment in our future: For every $1 dollar spent on high-quality early education, the public will save $7 or more in future costs like grade repetition, early parenthood, or incarceration.

Partner Highlight

Bay Area Discovery Museum creates playful learning experiences that inspire a passion for discovery. As the Bay Area Discovery Museum’s school-readiness program, Connections exemplifies Bay Area Discovery Museum’s commitment to making high-quality, play-based, early learning experiences accessible to all children. The Connections Program’s research-backed curriculum provides learning experiences focused on math and science concepts that develop the skills critical to a child’s future success in school. The program promotes science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics skills and social emotional learning by engaging students, families, and teachers through multiple facilitated visits both at partner school sites and at the museum.

The Fund is proud to support the Bay Area Discovery Museum’s Connections program since it launched in 2008. Today, Connections partners with 90 federally subsidized preschool classrooms in Marin, San Francisco, and Contra Costa counties, including the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund’s 6 Model Center agencies.

Fund Highlight: Volunteering with Refuse Refuse

Once a month, Fund staff join our friends Refuse Refuse for a regular clean-up at the Filbert Steps. It’s a great way to interact with our neighbors and pitch in to keep the surrounding area clean and welcoming.

Refuse Refuse is a grassroots volunteer effort dedicated to trash-free neighborhoods. Established in March 2021, Refuse Refuse empowers citizens to help keep San Francisco clean by providing opportunities to participate in neighborhood cleanups. They are on a mission to motivate San Franciscans to take actions needed to clean streets, beautify neighborhoods, and encourage others to join the cause with the ultimate goal of keeping San Francisco free of refuse.

For information about volunteering and clean-ups throughout the city, please visit https://refuserefusesf.org/

“The true purpose of education is to ensure that children have what they need to be successful in life.”

—Jane La Tulippe