New Partnerships Forged at 4th Annual Summit, Hosted by LaundryCares and Too Small to Fail
At the 4th annual Learning in Everyday Spaces Summit – held September 21, 23 and 28, and hosted by the Coin Laundry Association’s LaundryCares Foundation and the Clinton Foundation’s early childhood initiative Too Small to Fail – partners launched new commitments to promote early learning and create literacy-rich environments for children and their families.
“Research tells us that the first five years of life are critical for young children’s early brain and language development,” noted President Bill Clinton. “And that the best way to build young people’s brains is for parents and caregivers to spend time engaging regularly by talking, reading and singing with them every day. We know the environments in which children are growing up matter a great deal, and far too many children are growing up in environments that are not designed and built in ways that help them thrive. That’s why I’m so proud of the work Too Small to Fail has been doing to create more equitable access to fun, learning-rich environments.”
“The last year and a half presented new and intensified challenges, especially when it comes to caring for our children, and I just have been consistently inspired by the relentless passion, compassion and commitment of so many of the organizations and people who are here with us today,” added Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation. “At the Clinton Foundation, all our work is predicated on the simple belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, and when we all work better, we’ll all do better.”
More than 2,000 participants from across the United States and around the world joined virtual sessions focused on the impact and importance of neighborhood spaces – including laundromats, playgrounds, grocery stores, public housing, family courts and more – as learning-rich environments that promote children’s early brain and language development, as well as neighborhood equity.
President Clinton served as the event’s keynote speaker, and Chelsea Clinton announced two new projects to support parents and communities in creating learning-rich environments:
- Kiwanis International is committing to partnering with LaundryCares and Too Small to Fail to mobilize Kiwanis clubs across the country to distribute books and create learning-rich environments in everyday community spaces.
- Penguin Young Readers is committing to donate 50,000 books to families served by Too Small to Fail and its partners, the National Diaper Bank Network, and the National Council for Juvenile and Family Court Judges. Half of these books will be distributed to families visiting their local diaper bank, and the other half will be shared with families at family court appointments. Through the years, Penguin Young Readers has donated 250,000 new children’s books to Too Small to Fail and its partners.
Featured speakers at the Summit included Gregg Behr, executive director, Grable Foundation; Barbara Bouza, president, business management, design & development, Walt Disney Imagineering; Miriam Calderon, deputy assistant secretary, Early Learning, U.S. Department of Education; Senator William H. Frist, M.D., former U.S. Senate Majority Leader; Jacqueline Jones, president & CEO, Foundation for Child Development; Michele Mason, president, American Society of Association Executives; Cheryl Oldham, vice president, Education Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Ralph Smith, managing director, Campaign for Grade-Level Reading; Bo Stjerne Thomsen, chair of Learning through Play, LEGO Foundation; and others, including parents and caregivers who shared their experiences, particularly throughout the pandemic, and their hopes and wishes for their communities.
“I’m grateful that our Summit continues to grow in its scope and reach to all who put lifting up their communities at the forefront,” stated CLA President and CEO Brian Wallace. “We continue to better understand the incredible opportunity we have to connect early childhood development and literacy resources directly to families and children who visit the neighborhood laundromat each week. The collaborations initiated during this Summit will not only enhance our ability to better serve laundromat customers but also give other valuable everyday spaces insight into how they can join our movement.”
The conference also addressed the impact of COVID-19 on early learning, and highlighted research from Brandeis University that ranks neighborhoods by level of child opportunity from “very low” to “very high” in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, where two-thirds of children live. The research shows that neighborhood conditions that promote children’s health and development vary widely across the U.S. – and that children who live only short distances apart often experience completely different opportunities in their neighborhoods that can influence how they develop.
During the first day of the Summit, Wallace discussed the key role laundromats can play in early childhood literacy and learning, during a session entitled, “Reimaging Neighborhood Spaces with Community and Business Leaders.” This session also featured: Ralph Smith, managing director, Campaign for Grade-Level Reading; Rachel Langford, associate director, Home Forward; Scott Roschi, creative director, Landscape Structures, Inc.; and Danielle Augustine, project manager, United for Brownsville. Other neighborhood spaces discussed included grocery stores, playgrounds, family courts and housing communities.
Wallace returned later in the conference for a laundry-specific panel discussion on what it will require to scale literacy spaces within laundromats and to grow the movement across the industry. This time, he was joined by other industry leaders, such as Alaa Elbanna of Bubbles aRe Us Laundromats, Brian Grell of Eastern Funding and multi-store owner Paul Hansen. Lupita Ramos and Sarah McNeil, both from the Denver Public Library, rounded out the panel for this informative session.
Moreover, CLA Vice Chair Brian Holland, co-owner of The Laundry Café chain in Philadelphia, discussed how sincere and genuine neighborhood outreach programs, such as early childhood literacy initiatives, can also be good for business, in the session called, “Doing Well by Doing Good.” Sara Adams, senior director of communications and marketing for Chief Executives for Corporate Purposes, and Cheryl Oldham, vice president of education policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also presented.
LaundryCares Achievement Awards
Chelsea Clinton presented this year’s LaundryCares Achievement Awards to recognize outstanding service and exemplary best practices for laundromat owners, early literacy providers and partnerships. This year’s award recipients are:
- Exceptional Service to Community Award: Mike Gregory, Peak Laundry, Denver. Gregory, who is the owner of two laundromats in the Denver area, successfully hosted a large Free Laundry and Literacy Day event this past summer. He so fully embraces early learning in the laundromat that the floorplans of his stores feature dedicated rooms for the LaundryCares Family Read, Play & Learn Centers.
- Exceptional Partnership Award: Paul Hansen and Michelle Dinneen-White, with Play Smart Literacy in Chicago. Hansen owns five laundromats in Chicago, and Dinneen-White provides early learning and literacy materials and story times within the laundries. “Culturally affirming play and literacy can change a child’s life,” explained Dinneen-White, and together she and Hansen are changing the lives of hundreds of Chicago children and families.
- Exceptional Early Literacy Programming Award: Denver Public Library. The DPL conducts programs for young children in English, Spanish and American Sign Language. They are committed to serving children and families where they are and have provided story hours at Mike Gregory’s laundromats. “We see this as an opportunity to meet kids where they are and to support parents as well,” said Sarah McNeil, director of outreach services at the Denver Public Library.
The partnership between LaundryCares and Too Small to Fail began as part of a 2015 Clinton Global Initiative America Commitment to Action. What started as a pledge to reach 5,000 laundromats with posters and early learning materials has grown into a movement to transform laundromats into literacy-rich environments. The partnership includes establishing Family Read, Play & Learn spaces in laundromats nationwide, distributing educational resources and hosting Free Laundry and Literacy Day events where families can engage in early learning activities, as well as receive information and resources from local community-based organizations.
On October 6, as a wrap-up to this year’s successful Summit, LaundryCares hosted a follow-up webinar, “Let’s Get Started in the Laundromat.” The session was a one-hour overview of why early learning in the laundromat works and how to get started. The program was geared toward laundromat owners and early childhood service providers. The program walked attendees through the benefits of CLA membership, how to work with LaundryCares to develop a meaningful partnership, and what the next steps should be in transforming your community.
Currently, 116 laundromat owners have installed RPL spaces in their stores. For more information about all of LaundryCares’ outreach initiatives, contact LaundryCares Executive Vice President Dan Naumann at (630) 953-7920 or [email protected].
