The LaundryCares Foundation, Too Small to Fail Host 3rd Annual LaundryCares Literacy Summit
In mid-September, more than 870 laundromat owners, librarians, educators and philanthropists came together for the 3rd annual LaundryCares Literacy Summit, a three-day virtual event that was spread out over a two-week period.
Conducted via Zoom, this year’s Summit – hosted by the Coin Laundry Association’s LaundryCares Foundation and Too Small to Fail, the early childhood initiative of the Clinton Foundation – renewed commitments to promote early learning and create literacy-rich environments in everyday spaces, such as laundromats, for children and their families. In addition, the event focused on exploring the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on early learning, and actions business owners and community leaders can take to support parents and children in under-resourced communities.
Kicking off the 2020 event, CLA President and CEO Brian Wallace mused on how far this annual event had come since its launch in 2018.
“Basically, the first Summit featured about 30 of us, kicking around ideas and trying to figure out whether this concept had legs,” Wallace recalled. “How do we work together and combine our efforts to connect laundry customers and their kids with the books and literacy materials they need most?”
Fast-forward to 2020, this year’s event featured such top-tier speakers as President Bill Clinton; Chelsea Clinton, vice chair, the Clinton Foundation; Patti Miller, CEO, Too Small To Fail; best-selling author Andrea Davis Pinkey; Cindy McCain, the McCain Institute for International Leadership; Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, senior vice president, Sesame Workshop; Dr. Susan Neuman, New York University; Ralph Smith, managing director, Campaign for Grade Level Reading; and best-selling children’s author Mo Willems.
The opening-day program featured a prerecorded keynote by President Clinton, as well as a conversation between Clinton and Wes Moore of the Robin Hood Foundation about the power of making a difference in a child’s life. Moore challenged attendees to find ways to show our youth that they truly matter.
Also during the first session, Wallace moderated a panel discussion of laundry owners who shared the impactful ways they’re using their businesses to serve local families. The panelists included Brian Holland, Laundry Café, Philadelphia; Jim Whitmore, WSI Laundry Corp., Gloucester, Mass.; and Jane Wolfe, Wash World, New Orleans. All three of these owners have installed LaundryCares’ Family Read, Play & Learn centers in their facilities to help promote early childhood learning.
Family Read, Play & Learn spaces, developed by LaundryCares, are playful, literacy-rich areas to help prompt activities like talking, reading, singing and writing among young children and their parents. These spaces include a sofa, a bookshelf filled with children’s books, puppets, crayons, an alphabet rug, blocks, magnetic letters and family tip sheets.
The second session of the Literacy Summit featured speakers Cindy McCain, Dr. Rosemarie Truglio and Dr. Susan Neuman – and it focused on the importance of helping parents support their children’s learning through routine moments such as laundry time and highlighted new research findings that demonstrate the effectiveness of creating literacy-rich spaces in everyday places.
The highlight of this second day were new research findings from a seven-month evaluation conducted by Dr. Neuman. The study evaluated the impact of integrating Family Read, Play & Learn spaces in 10 laundromats across Chicago, compared to 10 laundromats without the spaces – as well as the effects of training outreach librarians from the Chicago Public Library to lead family story times and literacy activities. Some key findings of Neuman’s study were:
- Placing Family Read, Play & Learn spaces in laundromats had an overwhelmingly positive effect on children’s literacy-related activity during their visit.
- Librarians played a powerful role in both children’s and parents’ engagement in literacy-related activity.
- More parents became involved in their children’s literacy-related activities during the librarians’ visits.
- Children remained engaged in the literacy-related spaces throughout the study period.
The closing session, moderated by Chelsea Clinton, boasted speakers Ralph Smith and Mo Willems. In addition, Clinton spoke with Judge Ramona A. Gonzalez of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges about laundromats as a solution to creating a more equitable, caring and compassionate society.
Also during the third and final session, the LaundryCares Foundation unveiled a new awards program, which was created to recognize individuals and organizations for outstanding service and exemplary practice in the promotion of early learning through neighborhood laundromats.
The inaugural award winners are:
- Outstanding Achievement by a Laundromat Owner: Jane and Scott Wolfe, Wash World, New Orleans
- Outstanding Achievement in Early Literacy Promotion: The Chicago Public Library’s STEAM Team
- Outstanding Achievement in Partnership: The City of Milwaukee and the city’s Office of Early Childhood Initiatives
Wash World laundromat in New Orleans has been the perfect role model for the Foundation’s Family Read, Play & Learn centers and their potential to provide families access to critical literacy resources.
“Owner Jane Wolfe has been a true force of nature!” said Dan Naumann, executive vice president of the LaundryCares Foundation. “She has taken the LaundryCares concept to a whole new level.”
Wash World installed a Family Read, Play & Learn kit in June 2019 and has built on additional space to house books, as well as to host story times and even visits from prominent children’s book authors. Their partnership with the New Orleans Public Library also is leading the way toward making sure every child who visits Wash World gets a leg up on early learning and literacy.
The Chicago Public Library and its STEAM Team have been leaders in promoting early literacy in laundromats for several years.
“Their leadership has paved the way for similar partnerships around the country that improve the lives of thousands of children who enjoy these programs at the local laundromat,” Naumann explained. “This award is well-deserved by everyone associated with the CPL and their innovative outreach efforts.”
The CPL’s STEAM Team is being honored for its creativity and commitment to high-quality programming for young children and families. Bringing high-touch family engagement opportunities to laundromat programming across Chicago got parents and caregivers more involved, led to language gains for children – and is now considered a national model for effectiveness.
The partnership between the City of Milwaukee and its Office of Early Childhood Initiatives has been nothing short of inspiring.
“As a Milwaukee-area resident, I’ve seen first-hand the positive impact our local partners have had by installing mini-library spaces in laundromats,” Naumann said. “This is an ideal model of government and business working together to solve a critical problem.”
The unique coming together of city government with the Office of Early Childhood and the Milwaukee Public Library, in partnership with Milwaukee laundromats, not only brought early learning programs into community laundromats, but it also scaled the work into juvenile and family courts and other everyday places.
The City of Milwaukee’s Office of Early Childhood Initiatives works collaboratively to ensure that all Milwaukee children, ages 0 to 3 years old, have access to high-quality learning environments and are prepared for academic, social-emotional and lifelong success.
What’s Next?
With Summit 2020 in the rearview mirror, the LaundryCares Foundation and Too Small to Fail will go to work testing new approaches and refining strategies to increase “caregiver-child engagement.” With support from the William Penn Foundation, partners will create and test additional literacy-rich elements and experiences for children and families in three Philadelphia laundromats. Results from this study will further inform the organizations’ future efforts to engage families in laundromats.
In addition, throughout the Summit, participants were encouraged to submit action plans on how they will take steps to support children and families in laundromats in their communities. Owners pledged to integrate Family Read, Play & Learn spaces in their stores, librarians and educators plan to launch laundromat outreach pilot programs, and community leaders will create literacy-rich spaces in everyday spaces using signage and tools to distribute early learning resources to parents and caregivers.
By the conclusion of the three-day event, nearly 40 new action plans had been created. And two conference participants who submitted plans were selected to receive free, large-sized Family Read, Play & Learn kits, donated by Lakeshore Learning Materials.
“We know that now, even more than ever, it is critical to reach families with resources to support early learning and brain development,” explained Jane Park, director of Too Small to Fail. “The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to exacerbate learning gaps, making it even more challenging for many children to show up to school prepared to learn. Too Small to Fail is proud to partner with the LaundryCares Foundation to convene a diverse coalition of laundromat owners, business leaders, librarians, community leaders and more – all dedicated to increasing access to high-quality spaces and materials to help young children learn and thrive.”
“This event demonstrates the potential that neighborhood businesses like ours have to directly impact the communities we serve,” Wallace said. “Laundromat owners are now seeing proof that making literacy-rich spaces and books available at their stores will help children reach their potential. We are excited to scale our Family Read, Play & Learn spaces to hundreds more laundromats across the country as part of our mission to meet families where they are with the resources they need most.”
For more information about the LaundryCares Foundation or details on Family Read, Play & Learn spaces, please visit: www.laundrycares.org.
