SARASOTA, FL – The Florida Literacy Coalition, Inc. – with the generous support of the Florida Blue Foundation – recently awarded a grant of $5,000 to Safe Children Coalition for its HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) program. The grant will help area families with young children to learn to make informed decisions about their health and healthcare by promoting health literacy about nutrition, preventative health care and healthy lifestyle choices.
The goal is to help parents become equipped with knowledge about the available community resources to assist them in finding appropriate family health care while further enhancing their English language and literacy skills.
Through the HIPPY program, parents are provided with health-related materials, workshops, hands-on projects, and are given the information they need to keep themselves and their family healthy. The grant objectives include measurables for parent participation, instruction time, an increase in awareness of local resources and coping strategies for mental health issues and stress, and gains in understanding of nutrition facts on food labels and prescription labels, and insurance deductibles.
The HIPPY program supports parents who may not feel sufficiently confident to prepare their children for school and is designed to remove barriers to participation in education. By bolstering parents in their role as their child’s first and most important teacher, HIPPY strives to increase children’s success in school and, ultimately, in life.
For more about the Safe Children Coalition, visit sccfl.org.
About Safe Children Coalition, Inc.
Safe Children Coalition, Inc. (SCC) serves as the lead agency for community-based care for Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. SCC is a collaboration between local community agencies who provide services to children and families in need. SCC is committed to protecting children, strengthening families, and building community. The core functions provided by SCC include child welfare case management, foster care, adoption, independent living, prevention, diversion, quality management, and support services. Visit sccfl.org or call 941-371-4799.