This cycle, many Trio grants have a focus on early childhood literacy:
Children's Book Project
San Francisco
$ 5,000 to provide multilingual/multicultural children's books to three East Bay agencies that serve at risk families and participate in the Read Aloud Coalition. The East Bay Perinatal Council, Oakland's Early Head Start Program, and Oakland's Lao Family Community Development Even Start Program are among 14 Bay Area children's agencies that provide health and social services to low income families and have formed the Read Aloud Coalition, which encourages parents to read aloud to their very young children and gives developmentally and culturally appropriate books to families who can't afford them
Educator Consultation and Resources (ECR)
Corte Madera
$ 10,000 for the Early Beginnings Project, a partnership with the West Contra Costa Unified School District to revitalize the preschool programs at nineteen sites that enroll children who meet the federal guidelines for poverty. Trio funds provide on-site coaching by ECR trainers who support teaching staff as they implement new early childhood teaching practices. These practices are designed to nurture children's cognitive, social, cultural, and linguistic development and to promote kindergarten readiness
Jewish Coalition for Literacy
Berkeley
$ 7,500 to improve the reading ability of public school children by recruiting, training, and placing volunteers, primarily from the Jewish community, as weekly reading tutors in poorly performing East Bay kindergarten through third grade classrooms
Pittsburg Pre-School and Community Council, Inc.
Pittsburg
$ 10,000 to promote early literacy through home visits by a Community Literacy Specialist, an early childhood teacher who brings families age-appropriate reading materials, library cards, and information on local literacy resources. The teacher shows parents of infants to third graders how to read to children, how to support children's learning, and, when children reach school age, how to assist children with homework. The PSCC van transports families to the library regularly and arranges age-appropriate readings and presentations by local librarians
Two of Trio's early literacy grants support the Reach Out and Read Program:
Reach Out and Read is a pediatric early literacy program in which pediatricians, nurses, and community members promote the value of reading aloud to young children by providing books, modeling, and encouragement to parents at every well-child visit from six months to age five. Through Read Out and Read, economically and educationally disadvantaged families are given the opportunity to create a home environment that stimulates early literacy skills and fosters the love of books
The Contra Costa County Library
Pleasant Hill
$ 7,500 to purchase children's books to support a new partnership between the Contra Costa County Library and County Health Department to promote early literacy among at risk children by bringing the Reach Out and Read Program to pediatric clinics in Richmond, Concord, and Pittsburg.
Kaiser Permanente, Richmond Medical Center
Richmond
$ 7,500 to purchase children's books for the Reach Out and Read Program in the Pediatric Department at Kaiser Richmond.
Other Trio grants this cycle:
Foundation Center
San Francisco
$ 500 to support outreach to East Bay grassroots grantseekers
Oakland Butterfly and Urban Gardens (OBUGS)
Oakland
$ 7,500 to support a unique after school urban gardening project in West Oakland that promotes children's environmental awareness and acts as a venue for social change, intergenerational community building, food distribution, and nutrition education
