Welcome to Reading Legacies

Reading Legacies is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is based on our core value that intergenerational shared-reading experiences provide a unique opportunity to empower children and youth as valued family and community members – a critically important priority for the future of our country. Our strategies to fulfill our mission and vision for children and youth are designed to facilitate meaningful “community connections” and “family connections” for them.

The Community Connections program gives high school and middle school youth opportunities to share of themselves by reading aloud with preschool children. Youth volunteer their time for a school semester at childcare centers in their local communities. Additionally, the program is intergenerational in its use of adult community members who participate in the program as Adult Role Models/Guest Readers and Community Coordinators.

The purpose of “community connections” is to inspire and empower youth as valued role models and leaders in the community as they engage in read-aloud activities. As a role model to preschool children, the young volunteers gain a sense of pride and self-worth, ultimately allowing them to experience first-hand the benefits of giving back to their community.

Announcement of our New Program

We are very excited to announce the continuation of a program created in 2001 by our Founder, Betty J. Mohlenbrock, M.Ed. The program, appropriately called Family Connections, is designed to benefit children and youth who are experiencing a stressful lack of connection to a parent or other family member due to incarceration. These children are often confused about their parents’ absence, and many wonder whether their parents care about or will return to them. The need for healthy family ties is acute for these children who are innocent of any wrong-doing, but in many ways forced to serve sentences characterized by long separations, meager communication with those they love, and even disapproval within the community.

Reading Legacies provides “family connections” for these children by empowering their incarcerated parents in a positive manner – giving them an opportunity to read aloud to them on DVD. The children receive these special DVDs and new books through the mail, providing healthy parent-child interactions at a time when this may be impossible in any other way.

Our Family Connections program is currently provided in eighteen detention facilities throughout San Diego County and beyond, including three juvenile detention facilities. The benefits to this program are immense to all who participate. The children and youth at home are comforted and relieved by the “presence” of their absent parent or other family member reading stories to them. The parent or child caregiver at home experiences support and hope to know that there is a positive connection available to their children from the absent parent. The incarcerated parent gains a sense of responsibility as he/she participates in the daily activity of reading stories to their children. We all benefit as a society when these children are given positive reinforcement in their family relationships; when family bonds are being strengthened; and when incarcerated parents are offered a window of opportunity to reach out in a meaningful way to their children and families – a first step toward returning to roles as functioning community members. Many experts suggest that reduced recidivism rates can be expected.

We encourage you to support our mission and programs through your donation of time, talents, and/or funds. The outcomes are fundamentally positive and critically important to our society – providing ripple benefits for everyone.

Welcome to Reading Legacies

Announcement of our New Program

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