Soaringwords, Inc. Non-ProfitFirst Runner-Up URL: www.soaringwords.org According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately 18% of children in North America suffer from a chronic illness — some 22 million children. The effect on families is incalculable — parents frequently feel isolated from friends when dealing with illness, and worse, the children are isolated from friends and classmates when they're ill. To fight this void, Soaringwords has created both an online resource center and in-person outreach programs for children and their families. The resource center incorporates more than 1,000 pages of articles to educate families and teachers and activities to entertain children. Its Hospital Outreach program allows ill children and families to spend hours enjoying online and in-person activities that pass the time, boost self-esteem and harness creativity through literacy, art, and creative expression. At the same time, its Soaringwords Educational Outreach programs are used for in-school and after-school community service programs, again to harness creativity and self-expressed; the programs were also used to serve students in Houston and New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina. Since its 2001 debut, Soaringwords has served more than 150,000 ill children and their families. |
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