"In our clinic, we see patients from around the world. Through the Reach Out and Read program, we are able to bring some familiarity and a little piece of home, creating comfort for families."
Dr. Stacy Barron, lowry Family Health Center
Reach Out and Read Colorado partners with clinics that serve children and families from around the world. Because we understand the power and importance of providing families with books in their native language, we offer books in more than 30 different languages to our medical offices, outside of our usual book vendor catalogs.
We’d like to highlight a few of these clinics below:
- “In our clinic, we see patients from around the world. Through the Reach Out and Read program, we are able to bring some familiarity and a little piece of home, creating comfort for families. We have books in Pashto, Dari, Urdu, Somali, French, Spanish, Amharic, Arabic, Russian, French, and Burmese, just to name a few.
I see a lot of families who came to Denver recently from Afghanistan. As a refugee, there is so much new, especially navigating the healthcare system. Recently, when I was able to give Dari books to my family, I saw a brightness in their eyes and such thanks for honoring their roots. I have patients that remember not the vaccines that we gave at the last visit, but rather the books they received, excited to come back to clinic knowing a new book awaits,” shared Dr. Stacy Barron, Pediatrician at Denver Health’s Lowry Family Health Center. - Lou Iglesias Sosa, a provider at Sheridan Health Services, shared the following:
“Thanks so much for the books in Dari! A very sweet moment occurred when I handed a dad a copy of ‘The Man and the Fox’ recently. When I mentioned that this book was in their native language, he paused for moment. Then his face lit up. When I handed the book to him, he smiled broadly and began flipping through each page. He told me that he was familiar with that story and how it reminded him of when he was a child in grade school in Afghanistan. He exuded joy and pride as he showed me how the clothing in each of the illustrations’ characters was culturally traditional and accurate. It was such a cool experience and a great way to further build rapport with this family!” - And from Dr. Aza Fahed, a pediatrician at Stride Community Health Centers:
“When I provide books in a family’s native language through the Reach Out and Read program, I see parents getting super excited, and they appreciate getting a book they feel comfortable reading in their own language. They ask me for more books at the next visit. I truly feel that it makes them more excited to read with their kids.”
Families that spend time reading aloud together build strong emotional bonds, and reading together can help relieve the stress of everyday life, or the stress of being in a new country far away from home. Specifically for refugee families arriving in Colorado, providing books in their native language can help them feel welcome in the clinic and the greater community.
If you are a Reach Out and Read Colorado partner clinic and needs books in languages other than English and Spanish, please contact your regional coordinator!
