2025 - 26 Annual Report
Shared Reading Strengthens Families
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:
100,526
Well-child visits where literacy guidance and a new book was provided to families
472
Trained medical providers
67
Sites throughout Rhode Island.
2,572
Books distributed at community events
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!
25th Anniversary Celebration:
Celebrating 25 Years of Serving Rhode Island
Reach Out and Read Rhode Island proudly celebrated 25 years of dedicated service to the state's youngest community and their families by promoting literacy and fostering early development.
Thank you to those that joined us in commemorating this milestone. As we reflect on our partnership with the Rhode Island medical community to spread the joy of reading and strengthen connections among families. What began with just five healthcare sites has now expanded to nearly 70 practices and healthcare centers across the state. In the past year alone, we distributed over 100,000 books to children during their well-care visits, empowering doctors to provide guidance and support to parents and caregivers in encouraging daily reading.
Together, we continue to build a strong foundation for the future of our children.
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Medical Sites and Well-Child Visits
RORRI Medical Sites and Visits Overtime
The graph illustrates the growth in both the number of medical sites involved in the Reach Out and Read Rhode Island program and the child visits (age newborn to five) made to these sites over time.
The blue bars represent the increase in the number of participating sites, which shows a steady upward trend, particularly significant from around 2016 and beyond. This indicates a strong expansion of the program, reflecting an increased commitment to children's literacy and health initiatives.
The orange line represents the number of child visits to these sites. Similar to the medical site data, visits have generally increased, peaking in recent years. This indicates not only a rise in the program's reach but also its growing acceptance and utilization among families. Notably, the gap between the two metrics suggests that as more sites open, they attract a growing number of visits, ultimately highlighting the successful integration of literacy promotion in pediatric healthcare settings.
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
Partnering Medical Sites: 67
Trained Medical Champions: 472
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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.
This year, BCBSRI and RORRI included The Greatest 8, an initiative of the Washington County Coalition for Children in collaboration with the University of Rhode Island, designed to help parents teach children essential skills for a life of mental well-being, particularly those between the ages of 0 and 8. The program focuses on 8 key skills: communication, understanding and identifying feelings, balancing emotions, self-perceived competence, problem solving, coping and resilience, conflict management and resolution, and diversity awareness and respect.
You can learn more about The Greatest 8 here: https://www.thegreatest8.org/
Leadership:
Aimee Falso, Executive Director (Staff)
John Bennetts, Chair (Board of Directors)
Nathalie Vega Crespo, Esq, Co-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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Books:
About Our Books
Bilingual books were provided in Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, French, and Haitian Creole based on requests made by our partnering medical providers.
Reach Out and Read Rhode Island curates a diverse, high-quality collection of books for children from birth to age five in partnership with literacy experts, clinicians, and families. Our books are developmentally appropriate and designed to engage both children and caregivers—from durable board and cloth books for infants to counting, alphabet, and storybooks for preschoolers. A core part of our approach is parental choice and cultural relevance: families and clinicians select books that reflect their languages, cultures, and lived experiences. We intentionally choose titles that serve as “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors,” helping children see themselves in stories, learn about others, and build empathy, confidence, and a lifelong love of reading.
Funding:
Corporate Sponsorships
Reach Out and Read Rhode Island is deeply grateful to our corporate sponsors for their generous support this year and throughout the years. Their partnership keeps our mission alive and strong—helping provide books and guidance to families so reading becomes part of every child’s everyday routine from the very start. Together, we can make Rhode Island a place where every child is read to every day. Thank you for investing in brighter futures, one book at a time.
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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.