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Contact: Velma Hendershott
President & CEO
InterCare Community Health Network
50 Industrial Park Drive
Bangor, MI 49013
269.427.7937
InterCare Receives Foundation
Funding for Reach Out and Read
Thanks to a recent grant
from the Ready for School Fund through the Community Foundation
of the Holland/Zeeland Area, InterCare will be able to restock its
supply of children's books that it gives out through its Reach Out
and Read Program. Reach Out and Read (ROR) is a nationally
sponsored program that helps supply doctors' offices with new books
to give to pediatric patients at their well-child exams from six
months to five years. InterCare was originally certified by
the national ROR organization in 2007. It currently has four
doctors and a family nurse practitioner at its Holland location
who participate in the early literacy program. The national
program requires that medical practices cover at least half of the
costs of books from local sources. The Community Foundation's
contribution will make possible the purchase of about 1000 age and
language-appropriate new books for InterCare's young patients.
InterCare started Reach
Out and Read at its Holland practice as an add-on to its current
array of health and wellness services. InterCare provides
comprehensive primary medical and dental care to migrants and community
residents, particularly the uninsured and medically underserved.
Its offices are located at the James Center at the corner of James
Street and Butternut. InterCare also offers prenatal and obstetric
services, maternal and child health services for pregnant women
and infants with Medicaid, and WIC.
Although traditionally
viewed as mainly a medical or dental practice, InterCare's larger
mission addresses the overall importance of healthy communities.
Reach Out and Read builds on the relationship that doctors have
with their patients to make literacy promotion a standard part of
pediatric care. Two other aspects of the Reach Out and Read
program include the use of waiting room volunteers who read to children
before their appointments, as well as the creation of waiting areas
that are literacy-rich with colorful reading displays, child-sized
furniture, and lots of books for all ages. Helping families
and communities build early literacy skills in these ways ultimately
contributes to long-term life successes and a reduction in negative
outcomes associated with school failure such as low adult literacy,
poor job skills, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and low self-esteem.
In appreciation of the local financial
support, Velma Hendershott, InterCare's CEO, stated, "We are
thankful for the support the Foundation has given us to work with
our families to improve language and reading skills and to assist
parents in reaching appropriate developmental milestones for their
children. The financial support of the Community Foundation
will help promote early literacy in our young patients and all the
advantages that go along with that. It is our ultimate intention
for these outcomes to be associated with better growth and development
and fewer health problems in adulthood in the communities we serve."
InterCare has served the
medically needy in southwest Michigan for over 36 years. In
this time, the organization has grown from a small seasonal migrant
health center to a six-county network with seven fixed sites and
two mobile units. InterCare administers the fourth largest
WIC program in Michigan and is involved in a variety of other special
programs. Today, nearly 50,000 residents and migrants are
served each year in west and southwest Michigan by Team InterCare.
More information is available
about InterCare and Reach Out and Read at www.InterCare.org
and www.ROR.org.
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