A Holiday Reading for Public Housing Families

As part of its newly-revamped education initiative, the Housing Authority wants to reach younger residents, sooner, to get them on the path to academic success and help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. According to the Housing Authority's Media Relations department, the more focus that's placed on preschool-aged kids, the less they'll be a source of concern later in life.

Key to that is getting parents involved, too.

The Housing Authority will officially kick-off its revamped education initiative this year, but gave a sneak peak to families at Imperial Courts on Dec. 21. First 5 LA and other partners were on hand for a reading of The Night Before Christmas and a book give-away for the more than 150 children 5 and younger who live at the 36-acre, 60-year-old development in Watts. The children received copies of Potter the Otter: A Tale About Water and backpacks from First 5 LA and Best Start (the development is located in the Best Start Watts, Willowbrook community).

Trying to stop the trend of school failure for children in public housing, as documented in a 2008 New York study, the Housing Authority has a history of giving opportunities to the young residents of its developments that they wouldn't otherwise have. Besides tutoring, scholarship and financial aid information and jobs programs, the Housing Authority's partnerships have yielded trips to museums, summer camps and community events for children of all ages.

Anyone interested in working with the Housing Authority's education initiative should contact Public Information Officer Annie Kim at 213-252-1864.

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