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About Reach Out and Read Washington, DC
| Reach Out and Read of Metro DC was a featured charity in the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington 2005 for our "excellence, innovation, and cost-effectiveness." Click the button below to make a secure online donation and become a partner in our continued success!
Your gift will help us reach our goal of distributing 50,000 books this year to Washington, DC's neediest infants, toddlers and preschoolers by trusted health providers, who encourage parents to share these books with their young children every day. |
Welcome to Reach Out and Read of Metro DC!Scroll down this page to find out more about:
 Upcoming Meetings and Events
Volunteer Opportunities
ROR Friends and Supporters
Participating Health Centers About Us
In their clinical experience, doctors often find that many low-income children encounter learning difficulties in the early years of school. Dr. Kima Joy Taylor, then practicing pediatrics at Unity Health Care's Upper Cardozo Clinic, had the idea that providing books to patients would make it more likely that parents would read to their children, an essential precursor for the development of school readiness skills, including language proficiencies and early literacy skills. She joined forces with Reach Out and Read (ROR), the national program that believes giving books to children is not only a good thing to do, but is also an evidence-based strategy to promote health in primary care pediatrics. The resulting partnership, Reach Out and Read of Metro DC, is now a coalition of 34 ROR programs operating in hospitals and health centers in Washington, DC area, whose doctors deliver a full dose of early literacy to low-income children ages six months to five years. Reach Out and Read builds on the special relationship between physicians and parents to promote the love of books in children by advising parents on the importance of reading aloud to them. To facilitate this important developmental activity, health care providers give a brand-new, age-appropriate book to take home at each well child visit.
Coalition Announcements
Inspired Creations Jewelry Sale to Benefit Reach Out and Read of Metro DC!
Inspired Creations will be having a Jewelry Show and Sale, July 15th through July 17th, 2008 from 10:00am to 4:00pm at 6550 Rock Spring Drive, Rockville, Maryland in the building's lobby. 15% of all sales will be donated to Reach and Read of Metro DC. All of the Jewelry is uniquely handcrafted with one-of-a-kind original designs. You can depend on high quality jewelry at wholesale prices! For more information, please visit the Inspired Creations website at www.inspiredcreationsco.com! You can also call 202-726-5198, or email inspiredcreations@verizon.net. We hope to see you there!!
Coming Up! RORDC's June Coalition Meeting
Please join us on Tuesday, June 24th for Reach Out and Read of Metro DC's summer coalition meeting! We are excited to honor, as part of the June meeting, two outstanding individuals-Mr. Steve Hersey of Books for America, and Mr. Mazie of Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care-for their generous commitment to helping dozens of children in the RORDC coalition. RORDC June Coalition Meeting
Tuesday, June 24th, from 6:00-8:00pm
Chartered Family Medical Center
3924 Minnesota Avenue, NE; Parking is available in the building lot, and the center is also metro accessible, located 2 blocks from the Minnesota Ave station on the orange line. You can RSVP to Jessica Young at jyoung@dclearns.org, or 202-331-0141 ext. 23. We look forward to a wonderful event!
Reach Out and Read of Metro DC Welcomes a New Program Coordinator!
Through a partnership with D.C. LEARNs, the District's literacy coalition (www.dclearns.org), Reach Out and Read of Metro DC welcomes Jessica Young as the new Program Coordinator for the coalition. Jessica joined D.C. LEARNs as an AmeriCorps* volunteer in 2005 following her graduation with a B.S. in Elementary Education from Northern Illinois University. After her year of service with AmeriCorps*, Jessica stepped up to coordinate D.C. LEARNs' Early Readers Now (ERN) program, a volunteer-based early literacy program that promotes school readiness in 3- and 4- year old children by placing volunteer readers at District child development centers. As ERN Coordinator, Jessica has recruited and managed volunteers at 12 child development centers, co-coordinated trainings for both volunteers and early childhood teachers, and collected and distributed over 4,000 books to these centers through various community partnerships.
Jessica is thrilled in her new role as RORDC's program coordinator, where she will provide operational support and technical assistance to the District's 33 ROR pediatric sites. Please feel free to email her with questions at jyoung@dclearns.org.
Balls, Books and Reading Fun Bounce Into Georgetown University Hospital!
Monday, March 3 was NEA's Read Across America Day, the nation's biggest read-in! Celebrated each year in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, it's a chance for families, schools, libraries, clinics and communities to join together and celebrate reading. RORDC celebrated Read Across America on March 3, 2008, at our newest ROR program at Georgetown University Hospital. Globetrotter legend Curly Neal and other members of the famed Harlem Globetrotters swapped their basketballs for Cat in the Hat hats and read with patients and other invited children. RORDC thanks the Verizon Center and Georgetown University Hospital for making this event possible.
We Need Books!
Help Reach Out and Read of Metro DC create literacy rich environments in health centers by donating your gently used children’s books for pediatric reading corners. For many of our young patients, the books at the doctor's office are their only exposure to children’s literature before they start school. Guidelines for Donations: Our greatest need is for books for pre-school children
High demand for “board books” with brightly colored pictures for infants and toddlers
Books in languages other than English are particularly welcome
Used books are accepted only if covers and pages are intact, clean, and readable
We cannot accept encyclopedias, textbooks, or books with religious or violent themes or sensitive issues like divorce, abuse or death. E-mail info@reachoutandreaddc.org to find out more about making a donation.
Volunteers Needed
Volunteer opportunities are available at a variety of Reach Out and Read Metro DC locations. Volunteer readers are an important part of the Reach Out and Read program. Trained volunteer readers are placed in pediatric waiting rooms to read with children and model reading for their parents. Volunteer readers also answer non-medical questions that parents may have about reading and literacy, provide information about libraries and other local reading programs, and make appropriate referrals to illiterate parents. Volunteer readers are most needed mornings and afternoons, but some health centers also host readings during evening hours. Volunteers are also needed to deliver and organize books and for special events. Interested in volunteering? E-mail info@reachoutandreaddc.org.
Reach Out and Read of Metro DC Participating Health Centers
Unity Health Care--Upper Cardozo Center; Unity Health Care--East of The River Center; Unity Health Care--Woodridge Center; Unity Health Care--Anacostia; Unity Health Care--Southwest Health Center; Unity Health Care--Hunt Place Center; Unity Health Care--Congress Heights; Unity Health Care--Walker Jones Health Center; Unity Health Care--Brentwood Square; Unity Health Care--Good Hope Road; Unity Health Care--Stanton Road; Mary's Center for Women and Children; Mary's Center at Kennedy Street; Children's Health Center-Adams Morgan; Children's Health Center-Children's National Medical Center; Children's Health Center-Shaw; Children's Health Center-Good Hope Road; Children's Health Center-MLK, Jr. Avenue; Children’s Health Project of DC (Mobile); Washington Pediatric Associates; Columbia Road Health Center; Georgetown University Kids Mobile Medical Clinic; Georgetown University Hospital Department of Pediatrics; HOYA Clinic at DC Village; La Clinica del Pueblo; Community of Hope Health Services; Howard University Hospital; Chartered Family Health Center; Fort Lincoln Family Medicine Center; Community Clinic, Inc.; Takoma Park Pediatrics; Whitman Walker Clinic Elizabeth Taylor Center; and Bread for the City.
Advisory Board Members
Gabrielle Aponte Henkel- Board President Diep Nguyen, MD-Medical Director
Chartered Family Medical Center Lisa Greeley - Board Vice President
Intelsat General Corporation David Trevor Riggen - Board Treasurer
American Red Cross Rose Timmons Dawson
Alexandria Library Cheryl Focht, MD, MPH
Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care Erin Fry
The Franklin Montessori School Tracy L. Goodman
The Children's Law Center Nicole V. Lang, MD
Washington Pediatric Associates, PC Nicole L. Reid-Board Secretary
National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies Rachael Walker
Reading Rockets David Niersbach
Save the Children Andrea Anderson, MD
Upper Cardozo Health Center
Unity Health Care, Inc. Judy Hijikata
The Reading Connection
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