2023 - 24 Annual Report
Moments That Matter
Our Mission:
Strengthen all families with young children through guidance from medical clinicians about nurturing relationships through shared reading.
Our Vision:
A world where every child is read to every day and has the relationships essential to learn and thrive.
Impact Numbers:
Model:
Primary care providers are trained to deliver anticipatory literacy guidance to parents and caregivers of children from infancy through age five during each well-child visit. This age-appropriate guidance centers on crucial elements such as frequent and early exposure to language through naming pictures, rhyme and repetition, and asking interactive, open-ended questions. A new, developmentally appropriate book is incorporated into the visit for the child to take home, building a child’s collection of up to fourteen new books before kindergarten!
Partnering Medical Sites: 68
Trained Medical Champions: 426
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Champion Quotes:
"This week, a 30-month-old boy "read" the ROR book to me and quizzed me on the colors. He kept asking me "What color is this?". It was evident that his mother was reading books at home and using them as a teaching tool. The mother was so happy and proud when I offered her praise." - PCHC Central
"One specific example was when I gave a patient a book during the visit and her eyes lit up, she immediately opened the book, turned to me, and started telling me her own story based on the pictures. It was very clear that she loves books and was so happy to get a new one to read. "- PCHC Atwood
"The books help us with developmental evaluation, also enable reading at home, is a good stress management tool for mother and child, having ROR provide books is well appreciated." – Leena Davis
"We love RORRI; it has been instrumental in providing families with books and enabling literacy. By making books available at good visits, families are able to have stories to read to their children, sit with parents, and bond over reading. Bilingual books and books about inclusion have been especially popular and impactful. Families love the books provided at well visits." – Aquidneck Pediatrics
Special Projects and Activities:
Since 2018, Neighborhood Health Plan of RI has been partnering with us to hold our annual Read & Romp free family literacy event at Roger Williams Park Carousel. NHPRI volunteers staff the event and help families discover the joy of reading and playing together.
With a focus on behavioral health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of RI helped select, sticker, and sort over 4,000 books for children at our partnering medical sites. BCBSRI volunteers spent time reviewing the titles, sharing their feedback, and then joined together to prepare the books for families in our state.
We were thrilled to bring our message of early literacy to the students at Nowell Academy in Providence. These young parents learned how they are their child’s first and most important teacher and they can help build a strong foundation for their child’s success.
Read & Play Every Day! is the message we share with our colleagues at the Providence Children’s Museum. Twice this past year we set up free book stations, a Story Walk, arts & crafts, and guest readers in the museum
Lunch & Learn training has become a regular part of our work as we meet with medical providers and staff at their office over lunch to discuss best practices around early literacy guidance and help problem-solve challenges they face at their site.
As we continue to expand our message of early literacy through trusted medical providers, we began working with the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Follow-Up Clinic so they can reenforce literacy and language skills with the families in their care.
With support from National Reach Out and Read, we held two photo shoots to capture images to help share our story. Thank you to Smithfield Pediatrics and Providence Community Health Center – Atwood for sharing your space and your people with us!
As an evidence-based program, evaluation is key to our work and we are excited to be nearing the completion of our newborn study at Thundermist Health Center in Woonsocket and East Greenwich Pediatrics.
In August 2023, we held our first Provider Appreciation Event at Mulligan’s Island Golf & Entertainment. Medical providers, staff and families joined us for some relaxing, outdoor fun.
In partnership with the Diverse Books for All Coalition, we helped make an impact across the country through the power of bulk book buying to bring thousands of high-quality, diverse books to our families.
Leadership:
Aimee Falso, Executive Director (Staff)
Krystle Tadesse, Esq, Chair (Board of Directors)
Jessica Pepitone, MD, Medical Director (Board of Directors)
Dinusha Dietrich, MD, Chair (Board of Directors/Provider Advisory Council)
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We select our books to meet children's cognitive, social, and emotional needs from birth to age 5.
In each book order we prepare for our sites, we aim to provide an equal distribution of board books and storybooks that fall into the following 3 categories:
- Diversity/Equity/Inclusion: feature people of diverse races, ethnicities, family structures, and abilities;
- Developmental concepts: shapes, colors, numbers, animals, and vehicles;
- Social/Emotional Learning: emotions, feelings, and healthy early relationships.
Funding:
US Senator Reed appropriations award – Senator Reed has been a longtime champion for children’s literacy, and a friend to RORRI since our earliest days. With his support, RORRI was awarded a $50,000 federal appropriation, through the United States Department of Education, to support our work in Providence Community Health Care Centers.
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- We are proud to provide the Reach Out and Read Rhode Island program at no cost to our partnering medical sites or the families they serve.
- Our dedicated team works year-round to secure 100% of the funding needed to sustain this effort.
- We are deeply grateful for the generous contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government supporters that make this possible.