|
Dear Friends of Ready Ready,
 As we begin the chilly nights and crisp days that October traditionally brings to Guilford County, we feel the true beginning of the autumn season. While pumpkin spice everything may be an early indicator of fall (and it feels like it gets earlier every year), October is also a month filled with commemorative events.
The pink of Breast Cancer Awareness Month has long mingled with the oranges of autumn and pumpkins, but did you know about some of the other significant causes celebrated in October?
For example, October is Head Start Awareness Month. This federal program, which began in 1965, promotes children’s school readiness, prenatal to age five, by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development. Since it began, Head Start and Early Head Start have improved the lives of more than 37 million children and their families. Like Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready), the Head Start programs work to create equitable opportunities for children to be ready for school and successful in life.
October is also national pregnancy and infant loss awareness month. While parents may have suffered in silence in the past, notable figures like Michelle Obama, Beyonce, Chrissy Teigen, and John Legend, Megan Markle, and Keanu Reeves have publicly shared their personal stories about miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death. They are bringing awareness to the issue.
In this newsletter, we highlight the work we’re doing with Every Baby Guilford in our partner spotlight. Did you know Guilford County has one of the highest infant mortality rates in North Carolina? Read on to learn how a shift in strategy aims to cut these rates in half over the next five years.
The critical work we are doing to help Guilford County’s youngest children and their families will make a difference in our society. It is work that cannot happen without your enthusiastic encouragement and dedicated support. Thank you for your unwavering commitment as we continue our journey together.
Sincerely,
Charrise Hart
CEO
|
|
October is National Book Month! A great time to celebrate Halloween
|
|
|
Are you looking for great books to read with your children this month? Celebrating October’s National Book Month is easy with a few lists from Scholastic Parents.
Are you looking for more ideas? Artful Parent offers 31 days of Halloween activities that also contain book recommendations.
|
|
The Basics Guilford: Read and Discuss Stories
|
|
|
Stories expose children to words and ideas that they would not otherwise experience. Books teach children to use their imaginations. What they learn about people, places, and things can be essential building blocks to later success. For both parents and children, times together with books form fond and lasting memories.
Senior Program Manager of Reach Out and Read, Pam Bacot, recently shared tips on Read and Discuss Stories on WFMY-TV. The first tip: it’s never too early to start.
|
|
|
|
It's never too early to start reading with your babies and toddlers. Click the image to watch Pam Bacot share The Basics Guilford.
|
|
|
You can learn more about how Ready Ready and Reach Out and Read collaborate on this critical literacy work on our website.
Here are some more tips:
For infants:
-
Actively involve them. As your baby develops coordination, involve them more in the experience. Let them hold the book or turn the pages.
-
Name that. Name and talk about the parts of the pictures your child points at or is interested in.
-
Keep it simple. Choose books that are sturdy, short, and have simple, colorful pictures.
For toddlers:
-
Ask questions. “What do you think will happen next?” or “Why is the child happy?” Respond to your child’s comments and questions. Show interest in their ideas.
-
Look for letters. Try to find the first letter of their first name. See how many places you can find it while reading or on packages and signs.
-
Re-read. Toddlers learn through repetition, so it is normal when they want the same book over and over again. As they master the story, try for variety too.
The Basics are five fun, science-based parenting and caregiving concepts that anyone can do. Learn more about them at www.guilfordbasics.org.
|
|
Would you like to be trained in The Basics?
|
|
|
As we share information about the Basics across Guilford County, we need your help. We’re offering virtual training on the Basics for teams of three or more people at organizations that interact with young children. Each session lasts 30-45 minutes. To schedule a training session or learn more about Ready Ready and the Basics Guilford, please contact Literacy Coordinator Megan LeFaivre at meganl@getreadyguilford.org.
We have trained more than 550 Guilford County residents so far this year.
|
|
|
Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) promotes equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion, which are woven through our mission, values, and principles. We stand against racism in all of its forms. Ready Ready will work with our community to address the structural inequities that drive disparate child and family outcomes and work towards an environment where equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion are core values. When we are working to address these structural inequities, Ready Ready will be bold in our actions.
When Guilford County Black and Indigenous children and families of color (BIPOC) feel welcomed, heard, respected, safe, supported, and valued, all of our community and our society benefit.
|
|
Family Voices: Food insecurity
|
|
The Guilford Parent Leader Network took on the topic of food insecurity at its September 20 meeting. With a guest panel including Parker White, executive director of BackPack Beginnings, Carl Vierling, executive director of the Greater High Point Food Alliance, Beth Waterfield and Ellen Wessliing of Guilford Backpack Ministry; and Susan Cox, program director of One Step Further Community Support and Nutrition Program, the group discussed food distribution methods, recommendations for foods to include at pantries, barriers for providers and families, and the possibility of food providers offering wrap-around services.
“The discussion ranged from ideas about providing vegan, plant-based, or gluten-free items to the need for more fresh vegetables and fruits, to issues with expiration dates and quality of items, and transportation and other logistics,” said Ready Ready’s Director of Engagement and Literacy Initiatives Heather Adams. “Meetings like this allow GPLN members to focus on solving problems and developing their leadership skills for Guilford County.”
The group also shared tools for finding local food resources.
- Second Harvest Food Bank covers 17 counties. Entering an address or a zipcode into the organization’s Find Food Now will help families find the closest food resources.
- Greater High Point Food Alliance offers its Food Finder service on its website and via Apple and Google app stores. The information is geared towards the High Point area.
GPLN members have also received a survey to offer more feedback to the food pantry organizations.
|
|
|
Ready Ready and GPLN members also work to connect families to resources in the area. In between monthly meetings, Ready Ready staff stay in touch via emails with resources, and members remain in contact via group chat to support each other, discuss issues they face, or share tips.
Would you like to be part of the GPLN? Meetings are held on the third Monday of the month from 7-8:30 p.m. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these meetings are being held via Zoom. When meetings resume in person, child care is provided to alleviate barriers to participation.
For more information, please contact Heather Adams, Director of Engagement and Literacy Initiatives, at (336) 579-2977 ext. 2004 or heathera@getreadyguilford.org.
|
|
Partner Spotlight: Every Baby Guilford
|
|
|
“Our mission is to ignite and mobilize Guilford County through partnerships and unified strategies to eliminate racial disparities and prevent infant deaths,” said Jean Workman, executive director of Every Baby Guilford.
The infant mortality rate in Guilford County is one of the highest in North Carolina. Of the 6,045 babies born in Guilford County in 2019, 56 did not make it to their first birthday.
Every Baby Guilford is a 30-year public-private partnership with the Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services. As part of its 30th anniversary, the organization – formerly the Coalition on Infant Mortality – launched with a new name and a five-year strategic plan.
“When we started this organization in 1991, the disparity gap or the black infant mortality rate was 14.6 per 1,000 births. Today, our most recent 2019 stats show the same figure,” Workman said. “The Black infant mortality rate hasn’t changed substantially in 30 years.”
Workman points out that the organization historically created programs that focused on changing a pregnant person’s health and behavior, such as blood pressure monitoring, nutrition, and access to prenatal care. But the data shows that the Black infant mortality rate hasn’t dropped. A new approach was needed.
“We are still focused on mothers, but now we want to change the systems they encounter, particularly for Black moms,” Workman said. “In many respects, we are aligned so closely with Ready for School, Ready for Life. Together we are working on population-level change.”
The story continues on our website.
|
|
October is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month
|
|
Losing a baby to stillbirth, miscarriage, SIDS, or any other cause during pregnancy or infancy is devastating to the parents and their families and friends. October is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month, designated in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan to recognize the unique grief of bereaved parents.
There are many ways to support the bereaved parents in your life or community.
- Everyone grieves in their own way. The grief process affects each person differently.
- Be present. Listen, acknowledge them as parents, and support their decisions.
- On October 15 at 7:00 p.m. in time zones across the world, candles will be lit for all the babies that are honored -- the International Wave of Light.
- Avoid statements that minimize their emotions or tell them how to feel. If you don’t know what to say, tell them that.
|
|
|
Do you know someone who should be reading our newsletter? Please forward this email and encourage them to subscribe!
|
|
|
We've updated our website
|
|
|
|
|
|
