Healthcare for low-income families

Adrian, 13 months old, is at our Takoma Park health center for a checkup. He’s healthy and growing well—standing, he’s nearly as tall as his 3-year old sister, Roxana (Roxi for short). In addition to weighing him, checking for signs of infection, and counting his teeth, Adrian’s doctor will also give him a brand new book today as part of the Reach Out and Read program.

Adrian’s mom, Ana, who has been coming to our Takoma Park health center since she was a teenager, remembers when Roxi received her first new book: “The first thing she did was put it in her mouth!” Since then, Roxi’s appreciation for reading has grown. “We usually read together before bedtime. Oh, she loves that,” Ana says, as Roxi babbles to her dad about her red Play-Doh creation. “We have a book of ‘100 things’ with fruits and vegetables. She likes to point them out and say them herself.”

Though Roxi and Adrian won’t remember receiving their first books, or pointing out apples and pears with their mom each night, the impacts of daily reading will stay with them for the rest of their lives. It is estimated that 90% of brain development occurs between birth and age 5. Learning disparities that start at a young age only get wider—children who have not already developed some basic literacy practices when they enter school are three to four times more likely to drop out in later years. This achievement gap has a far-reaching impact - research shows that education level is the strongest predictor of long term health.The Reach Out and Read program aims to address these disparities by working with pediatricians to provide new books to kids ages 0-5 at their checkups, and talk to parents about the importance of early reading.

Allison, eight years old, is a Reach Out and Read graduate. She grew up in a Spanish-speaking home, but now speaks English fluently. Her mom believes that the Winnie the Pooh and Dora the Explorer books she received at the health center helped her in school—Allison loves learning, and she wants to be a doctor one day. Her younger brother Deric is three years old and will receive a new book at his appointment today. A true younger sibling, Deric hopes to be a doctor too.

Thanks to the generosity of people like you, kids like Allison, Deric, Roxi, and Adrian have healthy, hopeful futures. Thank you!

More about Reach Out and Read:

By the time children from low-income families enter kindergarten, they are 12-14 months below national norms in language and pre-reading skills. By age 3, they have heard roughly 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers.

Preschool-aged children served by Reach Out and Read score 3 - 6 months ahead of their non-Reach Out and Read peers on vocabulary tests.

In 2015, we distributed 3,000 new books. In December, a survey found that 86% of Reach Out and Read families at CCI Health & Wellness Services read with their children at least 4 days a week.