Highlights

• A Bright Space' is a warm, enriching place where children in need can play, learn and have fun.
• Discovery Communications and partners work with Bright Horizons to create a Bright Space.
• Nearly 20 Bright Spaces opened last quarter, a much-needed comfort as families around the the world fall upon hard times.

The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children, in collaboration with Discovery Communications, celebrated a significant milestone recently: the opening of its 200^th Bright Space', a warm, enriching place where children in need can play, learn and have fun. Located at the Families Foremost Center of the Mental Health Association (MHA) of Montgomery County in Silver Spring, Maryland, the 200^th Bright Space is the culmination of the tireless and numerous efforts to make a difference for children and families in crisis by the Foundation, its partners, and volunteers.  

"Raising the bar for the quality of early education for all young children is core to the Bright Horizons' mission. In the Bright Space children are able to begin a successful journey of learning, paving the way to success in life," said Bright Horizons CEO and member of the Board of the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children, Dave Lissy.  

The Families Foremost Center has been providing free services, including GED classes, computer training, language instruction, as well as a child development center for the last 12 years. Now, while parents take courses, their children spend time in the Bright Space playing and learning. After more than a decade of operation, Families Foremost play area was well overdue for a makeover. Discovery Communications, together with architectural partners Clark and Gensler, worked with Bright Horizons to renovate the Families Foremost play space. This renovation was one of many successes for the Discovery-Bright Horizons partnership, which also recently opened Discovery Kids Place and Crikey Cove, Discovery's LEED-certified on-site child care center for children of employees.  

"At Discovery Communications we are committed to helping people explore their world and satisfy their curiosity. The Bright Space at the Families Foremost Center enables children who are facing some of life's greatest hardships to have access to educational materials in a comfortable environment so they can learn and thrive," said Discovery Communications Senior Executive Vice President, Human Resources, Adria Alpert Romm.  

"We are very grateful to the Bright Horizons Foundation and Discovery Communications for the true gift of a Bright Space. In the Bright Space, the children's faces light up with joy as they play with toys, dance to music, and discover books about the world. The Bright Space is where the children can relax and be themselves, putting aside for a while the stresses of their lives," said MHA's Executive Director Sharon E. Friedman, LCSW-C.  

Nearly 20 Bright Spaces opened last quarter, a much-needed comfort as families around the world fall upon hard times. More than 7,000 children and families find solace in Bright Spaces located in homeless and domestic violence shelters, medical clinics, food pantries, and other social service organizations in 35 U.S. states and Europe. The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children established the Bright Spaces program in 1999.  

Bright Horizons clients that have recently opened Bright Spaces include Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Johnson & Johnson, SEI, and Wachovia.