Cynthia Boyd

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Cynthia Boyd writes Community Sketchbook for MinnPost.

An inside view of a top-notch early childhood education program

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Preschool teacher Denise Taylor reading to a class of 4-year-olds at the Early Childhood Education Center at the Midtown YWCA. (MinnPost photo by Terry Gydesen)

Among the crowd of 4-year-olds pulling on warm jackets and stuff like Spider Man gloves and fluffy pink scarves for outdoor play Tuesday at the Early Childhood Education Center at the Midtown YWCA in Minneapolis were two antsy little boys with energy to spend.

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Despite brighter economy, Minnesota's homeless numbers still rise

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

“Emergency shelter use was up throughout the state, but we saw the largest increase in the Twin Cities metro, including the addition of a church basement site less than 30 days before the study,” said study co-director Greg Owen. (MinnPost photo by Bill Kelley)

Even as the state’s jobs numbers get sunnier and the Dow hits an all-time high, the numbers of Minnesota’s homeless are rising as well — though not as fast as a few years ago.

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Should battered women be given asylum in the U.S.?

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Among the hundreds released from immigration detention facilities nationwide as federal budget cut kick in today is a Honduran woman we’ll call Delores.

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As budget cuts loom, low-risk undocumented immigrants freed

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

A young Honduran immigrant — in Minnesota illegally but seeking asylum in the United States — couldn’t believe her good fortune Tuesday afternoon when she was released from jail in Sherburne County after 22 months detention.

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Despite improving economy, demand at food shelves remains high

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

(Graphic courtesy Hunger Solutions Minnesota)

You could say Byron Laher is more sensitive than many to the needs of the hungry.

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Elsie Fairbanks dedicated her life to helping American Indians

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Elsie Fairbanks (Photo courtesy of Saint Paul Area Council of Churches)

Elsie Elaine Fairbanks worked throughout her life to better the lives of American Indians, from mothers-to-be to those struggling with alcoholism to those just plain struggling.

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Do early childhood programs for poor kids work?

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Lately, we’re hearing a lot about the benefits of early childhood education — especially for poor kids.

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Lessons to learn from University research on disadvantaged children

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Children who grow up to drop out of school likely have parents who are “emotionally unavailable’’ and are poor at setting limits and providing structure in that child’s life. (Warren B./Creative Commons)

Megan Gunnar is a familiar face at the state Capitol. Already this session she’s testified three times before legislators to share research on early child development conducted by her and her colleagues at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota.

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Immigration reform could change the lives of up to 95,000 in Minnesota

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

President Obama and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators want to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws with a path to citizenship for more than 11 million undocumented people, a proposal that could change the lives of up to 95,000 immigrants in Minnesota.

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Explaining Minnesota's severe weather to new immigrants

By Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost

Awhile back I shared a story from memoirist Kao Kalia Yang who wrote about the first Hmong coming here in the winter of 1976. They saw Minnesota’s cold, leafless landscape and assumed it dead, the victim of chemical warfare.

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