16 Reach Out and Read clinics will receive $750 as part of the Mirrors & Windows initiative
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – Reach Out and Read Wisconsin, an Affiliate of the national nonprofit that is leading the charge in promoting early literacy and healthy relationships, announces the investment of $12,000 into 13 Wisconsin communities. The allocation, which comes from a Reach Out and Read National grant, will fund scholarships for 16 clinics to offer high-quality books that reflect the diverse experiences, cultures, and perspective of the families they serve.
Reach Out and Read works directly with pediatric clinicians to share with families not only books, but also guidance on the lifelong benefits of parents reading aloud with their children every day.
The scholarships are part of Reach Out and Read Wisconsin’s Mirrors & Windows initiative, which provided local clinics with book bundles that include a diverse selection of stories featuring characters from various backgrounds, cultures, abilities, and identities to assist the clinic in their own future book ordering.
“Did you know that in Wisconsin, families served by Reach Out and Read Clinics speak a whopping 26 languages besides English?” said DeDe Williams, executive director of Reach Out and Read Wisconsin. “Without our Mirrors & Windows scholarships, around 8,000 kids might miss out on books that reflect their language and culture during storytime with their parents or caretakers.”
“This initiative helps clinics buy top-notch, developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive books that match the diverse backgrounds of our communities,” Williams continued. “These books can often be cost-prohibitive for clinics, so we’re supporting them in curating their book inventory through the scholarship. It also offers a glimpse into how much Wisconsin families have in common. We’re thrilled to support clinics in delivering patient-centered care while boosting early literacy and healthy early relationships through this fantastic initiative.”
Each of the 16 clinics — who are housed within 12 total health systems — will receive $750. Clinics will be able to purchase books directly from Interstate Books4School.
The scholarship recipients for 2024 are:
- Allina Health River Falls Clinic (River Falls)
- Ascension All Saints Pediatrics – Spring Street Campus (Racine)
- Aurora Health Center Sheboygan – Pediatrics (Sheboygan)
- Beloit Clinic – Pediatrics (Beloit)
- Children’s Wisconsin – Bluemound Pediatrics (Brookfield)
- Children’s Wisconsin – Franklin Pediatrics (Franklin)
- Children’s Wisconsin – Greenfield Pediatrics (Greenfield)
- Children’s Wisconsin – Midtown Pediatrics (Milwaukee)
- Children’s Wisconsin – Pewaukee Pediatrics (Pewaukee)
- Gundersen Tri-County Whitehall Clinic (Whitehall)
- NorthLakes Community Clinics (Minong)
- Marshfield Medical Center – Stevens Point Pediatrics (Stevens Point)
- Progressive Community Health Centers, Inc. (Milwaukee)
- Scenic Bluffs Community Health Centers (Cashton)
- UW Health Northport Drive Clinic (Madison)
- Vernon Memorial Healthcare – Kickapoo Valley Medical Clinic (Viroqua)
“We are honored to be one of the recipients of the Mirrors & Windows scholarships,” said Roger Kapoor, MD, senior vice president of Beloit Health System. “We firmly believe that books not only have an extraordinary ability to allow us to explore experiences, but also the power to open windows into our lives, our cultures, and the perspectives of others. This scholarship will enable us to purchase books for children from birth to age 5, allowing us to foster a deeper connection with the families we serve and continue to improve our children’s literacy and social-emotional health.”
Like mirrors, books help reflect what children observe and know about the world they live in. Books also allow children to view and understand lives different from their own, a window into other experiences. To succeed as mirrors and windows, books must tell a wide range of stories — and they must include a diversity of people and worlds. Reach Out and Read Wisconsin’s Mirrors & Windows initiative helps increase access to inclusive books for young children of all races and backgrounds.
“Our pediatric team loves to share books and developmental guidance through the Reach Out and Read program,” said Elise Opel, MD, pediatrician at Aurora Health Center Sheboygan – Pediatrics. “We are very thankful for the scholarship. It will allow us to order more diverse options and highlight the Mirrors & Windows initiative.”
In FY23, Reach Out and Read Wisconsin served more than 140,678 children and provided 286,665 books across 386,106 well-child visits.
To learn more about Reach Out and Read and the programs offered, visit reachoutandread.org/wisconsin.