Mountain America's "Guiding You Forward" Program Encourages Early Childhood Development

During the 2019-2020 Arizona Coyotes season, Mountain America Credit Union, in partnership with the Arizona Coyotes Foundation, launched the “Guiding You Forward” program to support Southwest Human Development. With the first five years of a child’s life being the most critical for development, the Guiding You Forward program encourages early development through the following initiatives:
 

• The MAKERS of Change Assistive Technology Challenge: This program allows high school STEM students to work directly with fabricators at the ADAPT Shop to develop life-changing equipment such as custom wheelchairs, seating supports, and walkers for young children with disabilities.
   

• Little Free Libraries: Located inside Mountain America Arizona branches, these free libraries make it easy to share books to help children and families succeed. Community members can stop by a Mountain America location to donate or pick up a book. In conjunction with the branch libraries, a Virtual Library was launched to expand access, providing even more opportunities for early childhood literacy. To access the Virtual Library, please click here. 

 
In total, Mountain America and the Arizona Coyotes Foundation donated $50,000 to programs at Southwest Human Development. Additionally, Mountain America and the Coyotes hosted Southwest Human Development families at a private Coyotes practice and held an employee service project where more than 30 employees worked together to build toy bars that allow children to play while sitting in a chair or lying on the floor.
 
To donate to Southwest Human Development, please visit helpazkids.org or stop by any Arizona Mountain America branch.