Sesame Street in Communities

Resilience to the Rescue

Today nearly a quarter of American children grow up in poverty. With economic hardship comes added stresses, such as hunger, uncertain housing, and a parent absent or behind bars. Often, children face multiple interrelated challenges—such as being placed in foster care due to a parent’s substance abuse disorder. Studies show that exposure to these kinds of traumas can hold back children at a critical time in their development, putting barriers in the way of their education and emotional wellbeing long term. So Sesame Workshop is stepping up to fortify families to cope with these all-too-common challenges.

With Sesame Street in Communities, we’re helping teachers, doctors, social workers, and caregivers give children a strong and healthy start. We’re connecting a network of community service providers around the country who work with vulnerable children every day, equipping them with free professional development training, easy-to-share resources for families, and much more.

Circles of Care

Through our traumatic experiences initiative, Sesame is going directly into communities to help kids and families get through tough situations and come out the other side stronger. Our free, bilingual resources include videos, storybooks, games, and activities that help everyone in the family nurture a healthier, happier outlook. The work is sustained through a circle of local providers—including teachers and social and health workers—whose hands-on support helps kids navigate problems big and small.

Sesame Ambassadors

With their warmth, humor, and friendly personalities, colorful characters like Elmo, Grover, and Abby Cadabby make difficult topics much easier for parents and kids to talk about. Parading through our videos and materials, these Sesame friends model how families can connect through everyday moments and daily routines: learning their ABCs and 123s, choosing tasty and nutritious foods, and opening up about serious topics like homelessness, foster care, and parental addiction.