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Local Boy Scouts help save Roxbury health center's reading program

Print | Comments () Posted by Matt Rocheleau August 11, 2011 09:46 AM

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(Courtesy: Alexander LeGendre)

Boy Scout Alexander LeGendre, 16, of West Roxbury, stocks shelves in a pediatric waiting room at the Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center (RoxComp).

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

As teenagers Alexander LeGendre and Brendan Chin each filled a Roxbury health center’s waiting room shelves with donated books, they witnessed how much their efforts meant to the center’s early childhood literacy program that in recent months seemed to be on the verge of extinction.

LeGendre recalled how a young girl approached him as he was stocking books, asked him if she could have one and sat on the floor nearby to read.

“The look on this girl’s face – she was so happy to be able to pick up a book and read it,” the 16-year-old from West Roxbury said. “I was able to do that every day as a kid, so it was so rewarding for me to give that back to someone else who I could see really appreciated it.”

The two local Boy Scouts each launched their own Eagle Scout Leadership Projects that earlier this spring brought some 4,500 children’s books to a waiting room at the Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center (RoxComp).

The effort not only saved, but also expanded the health center’s 12-year-old early childhood literacy program, which after several years of reduced financial support saw more drastic cuts this past year to state funding it had relied on to restock books.

Through its partnership with the Boston-based Reach Out and Read nonprofit that serves pediatric exam rooms nationwide, the health center promotes early literacy and school readiness by providing free new and used books for children. The program also offers guidance for parents on how to help children develop critical early language skills, including by reading aloud.

Dr. Wendy Pavlovich, a pediatrician at the medical facility that primarily serves patients from Roxbury and Dorchester, helps oversee the literacy initiative. When she made a cold call to the Boy Scouts Boston Minutemen Council last fall asking for help, she said the “once-robust” program was in rough shape.

There were fewer than 100 used books, and less than 400 new books, left. That was enough to only serve half the program’s need, she said. Much of that remaining collection was written in Spanish, but most children involved in the initiative speak and read English. And, for children at some reading levels there were only a handful of books available.

Though the program continued to provide books to young patients, “We were not feeling like we could continue giving out books much longer,” said Pavlovich.

“This program is really, really important to us,” she continued. “We see the literacy program as a medical priority because exposure to books and reading with caregivers helps children develop the cognitive skills needed to achieve success in school.”

Many of the young readers involved are inner-city children who Pavlovich said are most at-risk to struggle with literacy. But, the medical center did not have the internal infrastructure to try to revive the program on its own

The work the two Boy Scouts did to revive the program, “far exceeded my expectations,” she added.

The pediatrician had requested help replenishing the program’s book supply, but the two Boy Scouts went above and beyond. In addition to collecting 1,500 books by setting up several drop-off boxes, LeGendre, a member of Boy Scout Troop 7, also secured office furniture, including bookshelves, allowing the health center to rehab the waiting room where books are kept.

In addition to donating around 3,000 books he collected, Chin, a 15-year-old from Needham and member of Boy Scout Troop 10, secured donations of children’s toys for the pediatric waiting area.

The new toys, books and furniture have transformed the waiting room from having an “institutional” feel to now being “warmer, more inviting,” Pavlovich said.

“It was inspiring for our staff to see,” she said.

With the promise of assistance from the Boy Scouts, the health center was able to raise money for additional new books.

Each of the teens also credited their parents for helping them out.

“It was really nice to know I had helped revive the program,” said Chin, “And, it was for a really good cause.”

“When it’s complete, it’s like ‘wow, I can’t believe I put this altogether,’” said LeGendre. “It’s an incredible feeling.”

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.