United Way and Coplin Health Partner on Literacy

United Way representatives Delaney Laughery, Information and Referral Specialist (left) and Amy Arnold, Program and Engagement Specialist (right) coordinate Ready to Learn book delivery with Coplin Health System’s Dr. Cathy Dailey (center).

Through a partnership with the United Way, the Ready to Learn program for children has begun at Coplin Health System’s (CHS) Emerson location to encourage and promote early childhood reading.

Because healthy children become healthy students, supporting families during the first five years of a child’s life helps prepare these children for success in school. Children visit their medical provider roughly 16 times before they are ready to attend school, so the doctor’s office is a natural location to reach families with young children. Through the Ready to Learn program, free books will be given to pediatric patients and educational information will be available for parents and guardians to learn more about support programs in our communities that can prepare their children for success.

“This partnership between United Way and Coplin Health Systems is going to help us both meet our missions more fully by getting books into the hands of young children and connecting parents to resources like the 211 system and Familywize, a prescription discount program,” said Rob Dudley, CEO of CHS. “It is exciting to see this focus on early education becoming part of quality healthcare in our communities.”

With Coplin aiming for quality community care throughout the state and the United Way passionate about offering resources and tools on early childhood education, the partnership comes full circle with each organization’s missions.

“We are so excited to partner with Coplin Health Systems on this project. Research shows that developing reading skills at a young age is fundamental to success in school, work and life. We know that a student who can’t read by third grade is four times less likely to graduate high school than a child who can read proficiently by that time,” said Stacy DeCicco, Executive Director, United Way. “The benefits of early literacy are simply critical. Having access to books is something many families may take for granted. This is a great opportunity to collaborate with a community partner and get books into the hands of children in our community.”

Currently, the program is being offered at Parkersburg Family Care located on Emerson Avenue; however, if the program is successful, CHS would like to expand Ready to Learn to other sites.

If you are interested in supporting program, please contact Sarah Barton, Sr. Program Manager at CHS at sbarton@wchsa.com.