Inaugural LaundryCares Literacy Summit in Chicago :: March 1-2, 2018

Inaugural LaundryCares Literacy Summit in Chicago: March 1-2, 2018

LaundryCares Foundation: 2.28.2018

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#LaundryLit18

The Laundry Cares Foundation — in partnership with Too Small to Fail and Libraries Without Borders — launches its first-ever Summit to leverage the role of the laundromat in promoting early literacy nationwide.

Coinciding with Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’ birthday, the Coin Laundry Association’s (CLA) LaundryCares Foundation has launched the inaugural LaundryCares Literacy Summit. This convening in Chicago, IL, held in partnership with Too Small to Fail and Libraries Without Borders, will bring together national literacy organizations to explore the unique role the laundromat can play in enhancing early literacy efforts in local communities across the country.

Since 2006, LaundryCares has been hosting its Free Laundry Day initiative, a nationwide effort to provide families with free laundry services at select laundromats in underserved communities across the country. Hundreds of loads of laundry are typically completed during each free laundry day. Over the last three years, in partnership with the Clinton Foundation’s Too Small to Fail initiative, the Free Laundry Day initiative has expanded to include reading circles and family literacy activities, as well as to provide an opportunity for parents to get information and tools to support their young children’s early brain and language development. Furthermore, CLA and Too Small to Fail have implemented “Wash Time is Talk Time,” a national partnership to distribute children’s books, parent-child conversation posters, and family tip sheets through 5,000 laundromats across the country.

In partnership with Libraries Without Borders, LaundryCares has set up “Wash & Learn” literacy programs in Michigan, New York, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and DC. Through the “Wash & Learn” program, we create pop-up libraries and learning spaces inside laundromats, which bring books, laptops, and curated WiFi networks to families and children at their neighborhood laundromat. The program also convenes local libraries, nonprofits and community organizations, who team up to facilitate educational workshops that align with wash and dry cycles.  READ MORE >>