About Us >> History of Building Bright Futures of Chittenden County

Building Bright Futures of Chittenden County was formed as a Success by Six Program in July 1992 serving the city of Burlington, Vermont.  As outlined in the Vermont legislation, the purpose was to offer community-based early childhood development services to all children and their families and to create a unified system of childhood services.  Our first step was to create a steering committee to bring all interested individuals and services together to identify needs, strengths and use our resources to better support young children and their families in the area.  We also began to offer information about services to all families who gave birth at the hospital. 

In 1996, the Burlington program expanded to all of Chittenden County and started contracting with 12 local groups in the county to provide direct services such as playgroups, welcome baby visits, parent education and fun family experiences, in collaboration with other formal and informal supports and services in each community.  In 1998, the Chittenden County Early Childhood Steering Committee was renamed the Early Childhood Council and in 2002 we reorganized to strengthen the Council as the decision making body of Building Bright Futures of Chittenden County, with active committees doing much of the work. In August 2004, the Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties became the latest fiscal agent of Building Bright Futures of Chittenden County.

Our focus is on all young children ages birth to six and their families in Chittenden County. Today, the Council continues to facilitate community conversations, inter-agency trainings and stakeholder collaborations to best meet family needs.  In addition, the 12 local groups continue to create a unified network of support and fun activities for families with young children in their community, and to build and enhance local leadership. In 2004, Chittenden County won a national Community of Excellence award for its collaborative work in support of young children and their families.  In 2007, the Early Childhood Council will be one of twelve local affiliates of the Vermont Building Bright Futures, State Council.