TRENTON KIDS COUNT
The Smith Family Foundation NJ, The Burke Foundation and Advocates for Children of New Jersey as well as the greater Trenton community came together to produce the 2019 Trenton Kids Count publication. Today we are providing a valuable tool to the movement that has already been on the rise in Trenton. The data will help to provide a pathway to ensuring that our youth grow up in a strong, healthy, and thriving community.
Trenton Kids Count Report
Through our Community Conversations, Trentonians unpacked this data and developed actionable solutions to further move Trenton towards becoming a sustainable urban hub! The SFFNJ will be using both the 2019 Kids Count publication and the Community Conversation Summary, as a benchmark for our work and invite the entire community to use this information freely to drive impact!
Mobile Reading Corners
According to the 2019 Trenton Kids Count report 2018 only 2,118 kids were enrolled in highly qualified day-care or pre-school, that same year 5,074 children ages 0-5 lived within the city limits.
That means 2,956 children in our city were not receiving any exposure to formal instruction and literature. It has been well documented that children who are exposed to rich literature at an early age are more likely to read at or above grade level.
If these children are not in school, then where are they? They are in the barbershops with their fathers, at the beauty solons with their mothers and in places of worships with their grandparents. So, these are the places that we have decided to put Reading Corners to give children an opportunity to experience the joy of reading throughout the community.
Reading Corner Locations
We are looking to place 5 of these Reading Corners throughout the city. Currently, we have 4 partnering locations.