Affinia Healthcare recently joined Change and Action for Racial Equity (C.A.R.E.), Ready Readers, National Council of Black Women, and the Links Incorporated to hold a launch ceremony for four new Little Free Libraries.
The ceremony was held at the health center’s N. Florissant location. The other LFLs are at Affinia Healthcare’s Ferguson, Lemp Avenue and Biddle Street locations.
“At Affinia Healthcare, we focus on the body and the mind,” said Dr. Kendra Holmes, Affinia Healthcare President & CEO.
“For a young girl growing up in North (St. Louis) City, books were the initial engagement and empowerment. Libraries are so much more than just a collection of books. They are a pathway to knowledge, health and upward mobility.”
The concept behind the Little Free Library is to encourage reading and literacy in communities where books may be scarce or not readily accessible. The libraries are stocked with donated books and anyone who wants a book can take one to read.
They are encouraged to return the book(s) once they are read, but it is not required. The long-term goal is for residents to have libraries in their own homes and nurture a love of reading in their families.
Literacy also plays a role in health care outcomes, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study.
It found that people with limited English proficiency in the United States face a barrier to accessing health care services and understanding health information.
For example, those who identify as having limited English proficiency are less likely to have a usual place to go to when sick or have a preventive care visit in the past year.
In addition, children with poor reading skills are more likely to struggle in school and to take part in risky behaviors as adolescents. There are significant disparities in reading skills among 4th-graders by race/ethnicity, school type, and eligibility for the National School Lunch Program. Early interventions to develop reading skills can improve school performance, which is linked to healthy behaviors.
Affinia is joining a regional effort to increase literacy, which includes St. Louis Public Schools recent launch of its “Literacy For The Lou” campaign.
The city NAACP chapter has also recently launched a literacy initiative called “Right to Read.”
SLPS students have a reading proficiency score of 19% compared to a 45% statewide average, according to the National Center for Education Statistics annual report card.
However, school districts throughout the region and state share the same plight.
Just 30% of Missouri students demonstrate reading proficiency at a fourth-grade level. That figure only reaches 10% for African American students.
Affinia Healthcare provides a competitive compensation package which includes paid time-off, retirement plan, and tuition reimbursement, according to Holmes.
Established in 1906 as the Holy Cross Dispensary, Affinia Healthcare today serves over 43,700 people per year, of whom more than 90% have incomes under 100% of the federal poverty level. Approximately 70% of patients served are Black or African American and 11% are Hispanic/Latinx. In addition, over 4,000 of Affinia clients are unhoused.
Much of the work in serving the community includes the Affinia Healthcare Foundation helps meet the unmet health needs of those in the community with funds donated from a wide array of sources and individual donor contributions.
Affinia, a nationally accredited community health center, provides affordable primary and preventive health care for St. Louis area residents.
To donate to the Affinia Healthcare Foundation, visitwww.affiniahealthcare.org/donate.
For more information about Affinia, call (314) 814-8700, or visit www.affiniahealthcare.org.