WHO WE ARE
ABOUT US
The Early Learning Partnership is working to ensure that young children in York County are ready to learn in school and in life. By mobilizing people, leveraging resources, and empowering social, emotional, and early literacy programs, ELP is preparing children, birth to age five, for school success.
ELP has a staff of one Executive Director and one Program Coordinator. The ELP staff is supported by a Board of Directors with approximately 20 members which represent the geographic areas of all four school districts in York County.
Join us as we work together to help the youngest in our community Read. Bond. Grow.
Our History
The Early Learning Partnership of York County (ELP) was established in 1998 as a United Way initiative called Success By 6. South Carolina ranked 48th in overall child well-being and like many children in our state, York County’s children entered school unprepared to learn. Our children lacked an environment necessary to promote healthy development and basic foundational skills for learning and the potential for a successful academic career. Literacy programs such as Born to Read, Reach Out and Read, and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library were established.
Four Family Resource Centers were created in 2002 to serve children within each of the four York County school districts (Clover, Fort Mill, Rock Hill, and York). Beginning in the fall of 2003, a Free Medical Clinic for uninsured children began opening in these centers and operating on a daily rotating schedule. The United Way and Success By 6 decided that the programs now administered by ELP would be better managed by an independent corporation with its own board and decision making authority. To that end, ELP was spun off with its own nonprofit status in 2005.
In July 2015, ELP transferred the fiscal and managerial duties of the Free Medical Clinic over to Affinity Health Center through a two-year collaborative effort. ELP worked through the strategic planning process to better define our identity, branding, and work in York County.
In 2019, the Board of Directors agreed to update our strategic plan to redefine our priorities in order to reflect our involvement and collaborations with our whole community.
Our Board of Directors
Executive Committee
Judy Frothingham, President, Figure Skating Coach, Fort Mill
Erin Nichols, Vice President, Creative Director, York Electric Cooperative, York
Ashley Taylor, Treasurer, CPA, BNA CPA, Rock Hill
Dawn Mendoza, Secretary, Owner, Movement, Mindfulness, and Me, Fort Mill
Laura Moore, Past President, Vice President, Omega Communications, Clover
Board Members
Sarah Adkins, VP Business Banker, South State Bank, Fort Mill
Daniel Bentley, Program Director, Families Forward Charlotte, Fort Mill
Christian Brown, General Surgeon, Rock Hill
Sylvia Echols, Community Volunteer, Rock Hill
Tom Faulkenberry, Vice President, Retired Dean, Grad Studies, Converse College, York
Courtney Green, Speech Pathologist & Owner, Tattle Tales Language & Literacy Clinic, Rock Hill
Jennifer Jacobo, HR Generalist, EW Process, Fort Mill
Dupal Patel, Geriatrician, Atrium Health, Fort Mill
Margaret Simpson, York County Outreach Coordinator, NAMI, Rock Hill
James Thompson, Direct Support Professional, MaxAbilities of York County, Rock Hill
Jaime White, Retired Teacher, Fort Mill
Ashley Worrell, Attorney, Morton & Gettys, Clover
* Board Members reside/work in York County, South Carolina, and are representative of one of each of the four school districts within York County.
Ex Officio Board Members
Will Close, Consultant, The Springs Close Foundation
Martha M. Edwards, Pediatrician, Atrium Levine Rock Hill Pediatrics
Tina Farris, Branch Manager, United Bank, Clover
Katie Goforth, Executive Director, York County First Steps
Angel Neelands, Vice President, South State Bank
Rotating Board Members
Rotating Superintendent (2 year term)
Dr. Katie Barber, Executive Director for Elementary Education, Rock Hill School District 3
Rotating Resource Center Coordinators:
Erin Owens, LEAP Family Literacy Program, Fort Mill School District 4
Carolyn Green, Bright Beginnings Family Literacy Program, Clover School District 2
Cindy Taubenkimel, ParentSMART Parenting and Family Literacy Partnerships, Rock Hill School District 3
Jessica Elliott, Parenting Partnerships Family Literacy Program, York School District 1
Staff
Rachel Hui-Hubbard, Executive Director
Nicolette Bush, Program Coordinator