For 60 years, Sunbelt Human Advancement Resources, Inc. has worked to help people and communities exit poverty and achieve economic stability. Its programs include assistance with housing, utilities, social mobility and other needs.
The nonprofit offers child development and family support services through its Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Comprehensive services include education, disabilities and special needs, mental health, nutrition, health, social services and family engagement.
Shannon Vaughn, director of children and family development, said SHARE operates 11 locations of Head Start and Early Head Start in Greenville County, serving 598 children from birth to age five.
Weighted stuffed animals utilize deep touch pressure to reduce anxiety and stress. They help calm the nervous system, increase focus and provide sensory regulation.“Head Start prepares children and their families for school readiness and the next steps. We encourage family engagement and goal setting,” Vaughn said. “It’s not just the child, it’s the whole family.”
In 2025, SHARE received a Margaret Linder Southern Endowment grant of $30,000 from Community Foundation of Greenville to support positive guidance towards self-regulation and resilience.
Southern, a former teacher, established the endowment with a bequest from her estate in 2012. She designated half its annual distributions to go to the Greenville Humane Society and the remaining 50% to organizations – like SHARE Head Start – that provide early childhood or special education services.
SHARE Head Start used the grant to purchase toys and equipment used in the classroom to help children regulate their behavior so they can better participate in group learning activities.
“Sometimes if a child is less attentive, and struggles to keep their hands to themself, a teaching assistant can give them a small, weighted animal – like a lizard, crocodile, or frog – to put on their shoulder or lap, or a weighted book in their hands to help them calm down so that they can be more attentive,” said Tracie Wilson, disabilities/special needs specialist.
Tobita Posley-McKinney, mental health specialist, said the materials purchased include equipment like sensory balls, weighted blankets and vests that help when a child is overstimulated and plush toys with pockets – calming cuddle bugs – that children with anxiety can use to soothe themselves.
Cherie Whitman, disabilities/special needs specialist, said all of the toys are designed to help children learn to self-regulate and build resilience.
“We all face things in our day that overwhelm or overstimulate us, signals from the environment that we don’t know how to process,” Whitman said. “The children we serve are in the age range where we can help them build those skills, to understand and cope with emotions.”
Wilson said SHARE Head Start works closely with families, Greenville County Schools and other community partners like CFG.
“They bring so many resources to our program,” Wilson said. “The extra funding from the Margaret Linder Southern grant is a tremendous asset.”
Visit cfgreenville.org to learn more about the Community Foundation of Greenville.
