During the 2012-2013 school year, 55 foster grandparents mentored 182 preschool children with Jumpstart. Of the 165 who attended the program for at least 120 days, 96 percent showed gains in language and literacy skills and 58 percent demonstrated gains on one or more developmental levels.

73-year-old Community Corps member Carleaner McKinney tells the story of how the program saved her, physically and emotionally. Her daughter- in-law works for a preschool run by PACE Early Childhood Education (ECE), and suggested her mother-in-law volunteer for the Jumpstart Foster Grandparent Program in which elders work with preschool children on literacy to prepare them for kindergarten academics.