Iowa Total Care Literacy Program
An Iowa Total Care initiative that promotes early childhood literacy through educational resources and statewide partnerships. Access educational tools and discover community organizations that help support literacy in Iowa’s youth! Check out our Iowa Total Care Literacy Program Brochure (PDF) to learn more.
Literacy Initiatives
View where we’re making a difference in Iowa with the Iowa Total Care Impact Map (coming soon).
Discover our literacy initiatives:
School libraries give children a place to explore new worlds and read at their own pace. Unfortunately, many schools lack the resources to purchase up-to-date materials or replace worn out books.
The 100 Schools in Iowa initiative helps address this need by providing 100 schools across the state with funds to purchase new books. The program also provides literacy toolkits to every school, which include superhero capes, crayons, post cards and more.
“Head Start” programs promote school readiness for infants, toddlers and preschool-age children. Literacy is an important part of school readiness, and a major focus for Head Starts.
The 100 Head Starts in Iowa initiative supports early literacy development by partnering with 100 Head Starts throughout Iowa. Iowa Total Care awards a $500 gift card to each Head Start, along with literacy toolkits featuring bookmarks, coloring sheets, posters and more. Together, Iowa Total Care and the Head Start programs provide literacy development tools to early readers.
Literacy Partners
Iowa Total Care works with community-based organizations across Iowa to ensure our programs impact as many individuals as possible. Through the support of our partners, we provide even more opportunities to give children the tools they need to succeed.
Find more helpful and fun literacy tools below:
- Broadlawns – First Book Program
- Raising Readers in Story County
- Reach Out and Read
- Iowa PBS
- Iowa Department of Education
- FAMILY, Inc.
- Des Moines Public Libraries
- Sesame Street in Communities
- PBS KIDS – Kindergarten Readiness Toolkit
Kids Corner
Doc’s Kids Club is a free educational program that provides literacy tips, activities and kid-friendly recipes every month. Members will even receive kits full of fun and creative items in the mail each season.
Visit our Doc’s Kids Club page to sign up for FREE!
- Grow a Garden with Doc the Dog – English (coming soon)
- Grow a Garden with Doc the Dog – Spanish (coming soon)
- Doc and Rosie at the Des Moines Public Library
- Doc Discovers Little Libraries
- Doc Challenges YOU to Read!
Other Resources
Need help finding community resources?
Findhelp.org helps people with social needs find programs and services for food, shelter, healthcare, work, financial assistance and more.
Check out the Community Outreach Newsletter!
Discover how we bring our initiatives to communities across Iowa in the Community Outreach Newsletter.
Want access to resources for healthy eating?
Iowa Total Care’s Be Well. Eat Well. program can help you discover how to you get fresh produce, cook with seasonal vegetables and more! Visit our Be Well. Eat Well. page to get started.
If you are an Iowa Total Care Member, you have more ways to manage your health.
- On the secure member portal. Access your account or create one now.
- Through the Iowa Total Care mobile app. If you have not downloaded it yet, search for 'Iowa Total Care' in the App Store or on Google Play to download.
