Aleko Khundadze looks from playing with a picture of one of the volunteers at the First Step Child Care Center at CGHS. The Center, one of many programs started by the Parent Partnership, provides day care for the staff and students.

Chances are, the average person has never heard of the Parent Partnership — but that person might very well have heard of one of the Partnership’s programs .

A big one is the First Steps Child Care Center, a nursery for toddlers and infants at the Cottage Grove High School for pregnant and parenting students and South Lane School District Personnel.

But the Child Care Center is only one of many programs run by the Partnership, which Executive Director Anna Strong calls a “Purpose-driven Corporation.” “Our main goal is the enrichment of children’s lives,” she said, speaking from the Partnership’s office on the grounds of the old high school. “The need is always centered around children.”

The Parent Partnership attacks that need on many fronts, and the diversity of groups operating under its umbrella might have something to do with why the Partnership itself is so obscure.

The group also runs A Primary Connection, which is a family resource center for South Lane County set up to promote healthy family relationships and prevent child abuse.

The Partnership is also responsible for the McKinney Program, which serves as a liaison for homeless students and families.

Tack onto the list of Partnership achievements the PRIDE Program, a community learning center, and the High School’s Outdoor Program and the breadth of the Partnership starts to look rather expansive.

It also has several ongoing projects, namely the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee, a Family Resources Directory and the Cottage Grove “Summer Singalong” 2006.

The relationship between the Parent Partnership and its subsidiary programs is something of a spider web, with directors overseeing the major programs and the Partnership providing creative influence, input and funds.

But while the hierarchy of the Partnership might be a bit convoluted , the effects of its programs are not.

This is clear on any given weekday at Cottage Grove High School, where Cherilyn Osban and Suzette Boling run the Child Care Center, which takes care of staff children as well as the kids of five teen moms at the school.

Here toddlers and infants can spend the day with toys, videos, even a sleeping room, all under the supervision of trained professionals, while the parents of the kids can go to school or work in the district. Other students at the high school can get credits for volunteering in the nursery as well.

The nursery is done in partnership with South Lane School District, as are most of its programs .

It’s a bright spot for teen moms who might very well not be in school otherwise, but the program didn’t just happen.

The Partnership relies heavily on donations and volunteerism to run its various programs. Currently it employs 15 people full-time and has a healthy grant-writing process, but the Partnership still wouldn’t be able to do what it does without the 8-10 volunteers or the thousands of dollars it gets in donations every year.

“We still rely on those donations for sustainability of these programs,” said Trish Tully, a board member for the Parent Partnership. “A lot of people might not realize that getting the money for startup for these programs is just the beginning.”

Most of the big dollars that the Partnership gathers to start hefty programs come from grants, but donations are what keep the programs afloat long after the grant money is gone.

Still, according to Strong, the most valuable resource the Partnership has is likely the people working for it.

“The individuals who work in these programs lead with their hearts,” she said.

More information is available by calling the Parent Partnership at 942-2104 .