Improving Hispanic Children’s Reading Skills.

Leading trends across the country, The Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF) and White Memorial Medical Center (WMMC) Rainbow Children’s Center, the first-of-its-kind licensed childcare in Los Angeles, will benefit from a $1 million grant from local government and community organizations to improve quality child care in the inner city.

According to officials at the MAOF/WMMC Rainbow Children Center the grant will help to establish a full lending library at the center, which is housed on the campus of the hospital. “The library will give children and their families the opportunity to check out books and experience the joys of reading with their families in the comfort of their homes,” said Diana Arias Rainbow’s childcare manager. “The lending library will provide educational enrichment and literary experiences to children in their early years, when a child’s development potential is the greatest.” Initially the library will house over 200 children’s books.

Literacy experts emphasize the need to develop language skills in young children beginning at birth. Experts note that babies and young children need to be talked and read to, which will better prepare them to read and learn when they are in school. Children of immigrant, low-income and non-English speaking families are expected to benefit greatly from the new lending library.

The bilingual and bi-cultural MAOF/WMMC Rainbow Children’s Center is a licensed non-profit child care learning center which currently serves the needs of dozens of children from infants to five-years of age. Four years after opening, the 13,500-square foot building, the Rainbow Children’s Center has educated more than 50 children every year.

“We recognize the urgent need to prepare our young people with the necessary skills to compete in an increasingly competitive environment,” said Mary Anne Chern, president of White Memorial Medical Center’s Charitable Foundation. “Success is achieved when we work together to transform education. This partnership with MAOF joins together education, government and community leadership to help the local community and offer the best possible child care for our children.”

The unique partnership between MAOF and WMMC was established in 2000 to enhance early childhood development skills through programs that strive to provide first-rate childcare services to low-income families. The program curriculum is designed to promote strong parent involvement in their child’s early reading activities. Both MAOF and WMMC operate under a collaborative effort, whose goal is to make a dramatic impact on the early years of a child by increasing the number of inner-city children entering school with the necessary skills, which will enable them to reach their learning potential.

“We are excited by the partnership and the opportunities being created for children as a result of this project,” noted Dionicio Morales, founder of MAOF. “Quality childcare is vitally important to the future of our children. Our partnership with The White Memorial Rainbow Children’s Center is part of our commitment to raising the quality of childcare in Los Angeles. This effort represents one of the greatest models for other communities and serves as an example of civic engagement at its finest.”

The lending library program is part of a federally-funded effort to develop effective learning strategies. The program is a result of a four-year project, coordinated by the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement at the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California School of Education, and is a grant to MAOF. The program was initially implemented at one of the Para Los Niños Child Development Centers.