CrossOver Healthcare Ministry is grateful and excited for our new partnership with Reach Out and Read! CrossOver was recently approved to become an official partner of Reach Out and Read, a national nonprofit whose mission is to give young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together. CrossOver's pediatric care coordinator and Reach Out and Read program lead
Eleanor Sanchez shares that "Reach Out and Read participants are 2.5 times more likely to read with their toddler or preschooler."
In addition to providing pediatric patients with new, vetted Scholastic books in the exam room through Reach Out and Read, our waiting rooms now feature a child-sized bookcase filled with books thanks to the Children’s Museum of Richmond. (See above photo).
The Reach Out and Read program builds on patients’ trust in their medical providers who, through this effort, teach them about the importance of reading aloud together as a family. CrossOver has 573 children in our pediatrics program. Patients between the ages of three and five, at new patient appointments and annual physicals receive a new developmentally-appropriate book in the language of their choice. In the top photo, volunteer nurse practitioner Catherine Allison reads a new book to our first Reach Out and Read recipient.
“The kids are so excited to receive a new book, and it really helps create a positive experience for them when they are visiting the clinic. We are working to create an environment that is literacy-rich to promote reading and school readiness all throughout the clinic," says Dr. Danielle Avula, CrossOver’s assistant medical director.
The benefits of encouraging families to read together extend beyond simply providing new books for families’ home libraries. Independent, peer-reviewed studies have consistently indicated that Reach Out and Read improves language ability in young children, increasing critical school-readiness skills.
We know many CrossOver friends may be interested in supporting this effort by providing additional books. At this time, our waiting rooms are currently stocked with children’s literature, and our Reach Out and Read books have been funded for this fiscal year, thanks to Reach Out and Read Virginia.
