Spotlight on the Village of Moms and the wonderful literacy work they are doing- by Dr. Sam Bommarito

There are many wonderful literacy initiatives and literacy organizations around the St. Louis region. In the coming weeks, I’ll be interviewing individuals from the St Louis area who help make these projects possible. I’ll also be doing some interviews with literacy leaders from around the country. My interview today is the first in this series. I’m talking to Mia and Alisha the cofounders of the Village of Moms. Here’s a little bit of information about the Village of Moms.

More details about how Mia and Alisha established this amazing organization can be found in the video interview. Both women are concerned parents who live in a high-poverty area. They are community activists. They wanted to do something to help the families living in their area that includes more than just help with literacy. Their help includes giving the families support in everyday living. Notice how they gave away over 4,000 diapers at their most recent literacy event and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what families received (see the pics of the event at the end of the blog). In the way of full disclosure- I have long been a supporter of VOM and I’ve been to several of their community events over the years. Our ILA members helped to distribute books and other materials from both the state and the national ILA organizations. In addition to the state and national ILA organizations, many other different organizations help. These include Turn the Page, several regional libraries, Parents as First Teachers and the list goes on and on. Village of Moms does more than just the annual events. Listen to the interview and review the pictures and links that come after the interview. Those links include ways you can support their efforts if you want.

Now it is time to have a look at the interview. Here are the topics we discussed. They are time stamped.

1. Please introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about your personal background. 00:40

2. Give us a quick overview of Village of Moms and explain how it came to be. 07:05

What is its purpose? – see the after-interview pics

Include talking about your partners (St. Louis Black Authors, Turn the Page, etc.)- see the after-interview links

Explain how the Village of Moms helps the cause of literacy in the St. Louis area. 15:42

3. Tell us about your latest event. 18:29

4. Tell us about what you hope to do in the schools in the coming years. 28:45

Wasn’t that an amazing story!?!  One small pebble in a pond can cause ripples in the whole pond. These two women and their organization have done so much for the community they live in. It is a community they understand well. They understand the importance of children having access to books, books that are relevant to them, books that reflect their heritage and culture. They understand the needs of the whole village. Their work helps the whole village. What follows now are pictures and links that highlight their work. As indicated some of the links will allow you to support their good work.

Link to Village of Mom’s Facebook Page LINK

Link to Village of Mom’s Store- LINK

Link to Village of Mom’s Go Fund Me Page- LINK

Links to some of the St. Louis Area Organizations that support Village of Moms

• St. Louis Black Authors LINK
• Turn the Page- St. Louis LINK
• Ready to Learn- St. Louis LINK

Thanks for listening. It really does take the whole village to raise the child. Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for more information on what some of the organizations in the St. Louis Region are doing to promote literacy in our area. In addition, I also hope to interview some other literacy leaders from around the country. If you know of organizations or individuals who are making a difference in your area please let me know.

Until next time- Happy Reading and Writing

Dr. Sam Bommarito, aka proud member of the “village” of St. Louis

Copyright 2021 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely the view of this author and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.

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