Reach Out and Read Oklahoma sends this information as posted below:
In many of Oklahoma’s rural communities, families have fewer opportunities to access early childhood support during the years when connection matters most. Through a $95,000 award from Reach Out and Read’s Holiday Impact Prize Investment Initiative, supported by the Einhorn Collaborative and the Nicholas Kristof Holiday Impact Prize, Reach Out and Read Oklahoma is expanding its work to strengthen healthy early relationships across six rural communities.
The funding will support more than 9,400 well-child visits each year and reach families through Early Head Start and Head Start programs, helping ensure early pediatric visits include shared reading guidance that strengthens caregiver-child relationships. By providing consistent, relationship-centered support in trusted settings, the investment helps families build resilience and supports healthier futures in historically underserved areas.
“For families in rural Oklahoma, access to early childhood support can depend entirely on where you live,” said Jordan Parsons, Director of Development for Reach Out and Read Oklahoma. “This funding helps close that gap by bringing shared reading and relationship-centered care into well-child visits and early learning programs — reaching thousands of families with support that strengthens connection and resilience.”
About Reach Out and Read: As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Reach Out and Read leverages the near-universal reach of the pediatric well-child visit to support caregivers in fostering healthy relationships with their young children through shared reading. In FY25, Reach Out and Read served more than 4.8 million children and provided 9 million free books across 11.2 million well-child visits. Around 70 percent of the children Reach Out and Read serves are from low-income families. The only national pediatric literacy model endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Reach Out and Read serves children in every state across the U.S.
Free Press curates press releases from organizations and people we know to be reputable. If you would like to submit a well-written press release for us to publish on our site, please click the email icon at the top of this page.
