About

Friends of Children of Mississippi (FCM), Inc. provides quality Head Start and Early Head Start Services to 2640 Head Start enrollees and 872 Early Head Start (Birth to 5 years old).

Friends of Children of Mississippi (FCM), Inc. is a highly efficient, team-based, 501C-3 tax-exempt, private non-profit human service organization.

Our mission is to strengthen children and families through community partnerships by:

• Providing a comprehensive child development program which enhances social competence.
• Assisting families to become self-sufficient and
• Serving as advocates for children and families.

We increase families’ capacity to support and nurture their children by developing a compassionate partnership between staff and families, which recognizes parents as the primary educators of their children.

In support of this partnership, FCM, Inc. provides opportunities for continuous staff development and growth and creates an environment that promotes job satisfaction and community service.

In October 1966, FCM was created to plan and coordinate support for over 60 volunteer centers. This was an effort to convince the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to reverse its decision not to continue funding for the Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM).

After it was determined that CDGM would be funded once more, the CDGM Board of Directors was notified that the new program could only consist of 14 counties. This decision meant that counties which were and desired to be an integral part of CDGM were excluded from the new grant: Clarke, Humphreys, Greene, Wayne, Neshoba and Leflore counties.

The excluded counties sustained operation with no federal or state funding for 18 months, until becoming a delegate agency with Tougaloo College, serving as the grantee in late 1967. In 1968, FCM petitioned for and was granted an incorporation charter through the State of Mississippi, thus becoming FCM, Inc.

FCM, Inc. currently operates as an independent grantee with a service area of 19 counties and 30 Head Start and Early Head Start Centers.