First 5 San Bernardino Awards $194,000 Literacy Grant to Local Non-Profit

First 5 San Bernardino awarded local non-profit Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) $194,000 for a two year Motheread Story Exploring literacy program—CCRC’s first funded grant in San Bernardino County, providing an opportunity to parents and children for a structured environment to increase reading, critical thinking and problem solving skills. “CCRC works within a framework of strengthening families and we are elated to expand our services to include San Bernardino County. The five protective factors are so important to building a strong and successful family—parental resilience, social connections, concrete support, knowledge of child development, and the social–emotional competence of children. We assess and support parents in all five factors and the Story Exploring model is just one more way in which we help families not only survive, but thrive,” related Ellen Cervantes, CCRC’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Beginning this month, CCRC’s Literacy Specialists are conducting story time sessions for 150 families through July 2014. Specialists will also work with parents to give them the confidence and skills to be story readers, writers and tellers. Each family will participate in three sessions within the three-month series and, once completed, they will receive a literacy kit. At the same time, children from birth to 11 years old will participate in a variety of activities including reading, writing, listening and speaking aimed at fostering creative thinking, problem solving and nurturing a love of books. Families interested in participating in CCRC’s Story Exploring grant are encouraged to contact Resource and Referral Specialists at 909-890-0018, ext. 333 or 330.