Fox Run Senior Living Brings Story Corner to the Community

Planetary Scientist Carl Sagan once said, “One of the greatest gifts adults can give – to their offspring and to their society – is to read to children.”

Putting books into the hands of children and forming meaningful intergenerational relationships is a priority for Arrow Senior Living communities! To support our efforts, we have launched what we call “Arrow Story Corner.” Each month a resident records the reading of a children’s book that highlights an “Arrow Tradition,” and these stories are shared online for all to hear. This tradition has grown from our company-wide Black History Month Story Corners, where residents all around Arrow Communities read children’s books highlighting black figures in history.

To support small businesses and literacy efforts, we host a fundraiser and partner with the EyeSeeMe Children’s Bookstore to purchase and donate copies of the books we read to local schools, and then a portion of our fundraising efforts also support The EyeSeeMe Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to create programs that increase childhood literacy for under-served communities and to promote African American History and multicultural literature that will increase respect and tolerance for diverse cultures.

This month, Fox Run Senior Living is taking things a step further and embarking on the adventure of monthly Story Corner events in our community. One of our very own residents will read the Story Corner book of the month to children, as well as other residents, and share in a craft event and snack time. The featured book will then be added to our community library for residents to read to visiting grandchildren. A copy of the book will also be donated to local schools with which our community partners.

Story Corner events give our older generation and youngest generation a great bonding experience, with educational purpose behind each story. A lot of children’s books have a true story line behind them. Having someone read them that can also speak in more detail about the actual story, can help the kids learn the correct terms or phrasing. This is an opportunity for them to become well-mannered children with lessons learned in Story Corner with our residents. Our residents’ experience of the past working with our children of the present can help mold our future.

Our community has a partnership with Greenon Elementary. Sharing these books will hopefully bring our residents and the families in the area closer by reading and engaging together. We also hope to include daycares and children centers. I’m currently looking to add partnerships to build a stronger community, including people of all ages.

Story Corner is new in our community, so we have not had a reader. Starting this week, we will be looking for one of our residents to read the book and record the reading for Story Corner. If no resident wants to be a reader, we have several staff and family members who have volunteered.

All our Arrow communities encourage adults to give the gift of reading to youngsters. The relationships formed during the time spent between the reader and listener can be life changing for both generations.