2013-14 Princeton Project 55 Fellows' Blog

Next Friday, we're interviewing the candidates for next year's Heads Up! fellow. It's amazing how quickly the time has gone, but I guess that's what happens when you love what you do.

At Heads Up!, we've recently been able to secure $10,000 to fund the book program at Lincoln Hospital for this year. This is GREAT news; Heads Up! has experienced difficulty funding that location (which in my opinion is the neediest of the 11 we serve) for many years.

Lincoln is a hospital in the South Bronx. A recent report sent to me some months ago described the surrounding community in numeric form, mentioning that about 60% of the nearby residents utilize some form of public assistance. It's an incredibly busy place, with a flurry of languages spoken in the halls and exam rooms. Money is tight--for the hospital and its patients.

Educational attainment and overall health outcomes are linked, and given the poverty experienced by Lincoln's community, I can't imagine a place in greater need of a program that supports early literacy. Ages 0-5 is the time to learn how to hold a books, and that letters have meaning. Statistically, if children do not learn certain pre-literacy skills before entering school, they begin behind and do not catch up. Reading aloud with young children is the best way to impart these needed skills, and I see the importance of Heads Up! (a program in which doctors give books at literacy guidance at well child checks from age 0-5) so clearly at Lincoln. Many parents appreciate the literary guidance we are able to offer, but the ones who I remember best are parents who cannot read themselves (I encourage them to talk about the pictures with their child, which is helpful as well), and parents thankful to have books from us. Often they are the only ones a child owns.