Congratulations to the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation and the Kitchener-Waterloo Community Foundation for their foresight in joining forces to fund a project to investigate providing a program to encourage parents of newborns to read to their baby and start at birth to create an environment that promotes good literacy skills! Strong Start® is privileged to be the organization to lead this feasibility study to answer the questions:
- Do we need a universal book-gifting program for infants?
- How would such a program fit into the continuum of programs and services already existing in Waterloo Region to promote literacy in the first few years of a child’s development?
- What would such a program look like?
- How would it be sustained?
- Who would manage the program in our community?
Many Waterloo Region community organizations will be involved over 6 months in 2008 to answer these questions in a manner that assures that we can “get it right for Waterloo Region”. This study will involve researching successful programs in other communities and a local community consultation process. Anyone interested in further information is invited to contact Strong Start® Executive Director at strongstart@rogers.com or 519-743-9578.