Driven by a partnership between two Larner fourth-year medical students, several grant-funded initiatives have been launched to address literacy and nutrition disparities among underserved families in the Burlington area. These gaps for low-income and New American families were revealed through a community needs assessment with key stakeholders. For example, a research review of the Vermont Agency of Eduction’s 2021-2022 Ready for Kindergarten! Survey (R4K!S) Report explained that in the Burlington School District, only 62 percent of students eligible for free or reduced lunch were determined to be ready for kindergarten, whereas their not free or reduced lunch counterparts were 93 percent kindergarten ready. The research also revealed an underutilization of public library resources.
The genesis of this partnership began during their first year of medical school, when Larner students Jasmine Bazinet-Phillips ’25, M.S.Ed., Aequitas Fellow, and Ashwini Sarathy ’25, Gold Humanism Fellow, attended an Ethics in Medicine seminar. This experience brought together their shared history of being raised by New American parents, and their interest in addressing health disparities and ensuring intergenerational health for children and families. For Bazinet-Phillips and Sarathy, the library and other free public resources growing up were essential to creating a pathway to medical school.
The pair obtained a City Market Co-op Seedling Grant in 2022 based on their student outreach project, “Promoting Childhood Literacy in New Immigrant Burlington Families,” co-authored by Jennifer Covino, M.D., and presented their work at the 2023 UVM Health Equity Summit. Through conducting a community needs assessment with key stakeholders, including Champlain Valley Head Start (CVHS) and the Fletcher Free Library, and speaking with UVM Medical Center (UVMMC) health care providers, including providers at the Community Health Centers of Burlington: Riverside Location and the Building Strong Families Health Clinic, they found that there is a literacy and nutrition resource gap for children in the prenatal to 6 months of life age group. “We understand that the social determinants of health greatly shape development outcomes, especially in vulnerable populations. This project is aimed at tackling two important determinants of health, nutrition and literacy,” the project’s authors said.
An excerpt from the grant proposal explains the project’s intentions: “The goal of this project is to fill the early childhood literacy and pre-/post-natal nutrition gap for low-income and New American families to ensure an even start for all families in the Burlington community. Working closely with Champlain Valley Head Start and Fletcher Free Library as the hub for these efforts, we aim to give Head Start families an early childhood literacy and nutrition-focused box that will support growth from newborn to age 3. Our intervention builds on the current families serviced by Champlain Valley Head Start ... Ultimately, we are aiming to tackle multiple social determinants of health (literacy, nutrition, and social connectedness) through a series of targeted interventions.”
Early Childhood Literacy and Prenatal Nutrition Counseling
In a collaborative effort, the medical students teamed up with Fletcher Free Librarian Megan Butterfield, M.L.S., and CVHS employees Justine Mee, health services coordinator, and Jennifer Fink, family and community engagement manager. Bazinet-Phillips and Sarathy had the goal of bridging the gap between programming for early childhood literacy and education about nutritional choices at UVMMC and increasing membership to two integral early childhood literacy programs: CVHS and the Fletcher Free Library. The medical students actively worked to bring community-minded physicians and community stakeholders to the table to talk about the gaps in initiatives. By intentionally joining community and physician initiatives, Bazinet-Phillips and Sarathy held the assertion that Larner students could bridge the literacy and nutrition gap for children and families in the Burlington area.
In the summer of 2023, the first grant-funded initiative took place as described in their proposal. At the event, Butterfield shared a read-aloud with children and families. During dinner provided for children and families, local physicians circulated around answering questions for caregivers. Each family received a Literacy Box to take home with them after the event, with contents of the box described in detail on City Market Co-op’s grant update webpage: “With the funding we received from the Seedling Grant, we were able to put together 20 educational boxes for families which included an alphabet play mat, a reusable utensil kit, a soft book, sight word cards, a gift card to City Market, as well as multiple educational resources on childhood development, nutritional guidelines, mental health resources during and after pregnancy, and breastfeeding.”
Vision Screening Follow-Up
After presenting their findings at the 2023 UVM Health Equity Summit and completing the first community event, Bazinet-Phillips and Sarathy’s second joint-partnership event was held on November 20, 2024, at the Family Connections Program space in coordination with UVMMC ophthalmologist Sujata Singh, M.D., and certified orthoptist Sheila Chamberlin, CO. Again, through intentional collaboration with community stakeholders, the grantees orchestrated a vision screening follow-up event for all CVHS students who did not pass their vision screening this year. According to Bazinet-Phillips, Justine Mee shared that “CVHS conducts vision screenings for ages 0–5, but transportation barriers and long wait times at the UVMMC pediatric ophthalmology clinic often result in CVHS children and families lost to follow-up, especially for children under 3 (33 percent follow-up) compared to those 3–5 years of age (62.3 percent).” Singh and Chamberlin, in collaboration with Mee and CVHS’s pre-existing vision screening efforts, created a more streamlined referral process to UVMMC pediatric ophthalmology for children who needed more vision support and follow-up afterwards. “Overall, the goal is to build upon already existing programming of annual hearing and vision screening at Champlain Valley Head Start and create a more streamlined system for follow-up and needs assessment for children and families,” Bazinet-Phillips said.
More than 10 young students in need of further vision screening attended that afternoon, with interpreters present as needed, and after-school snacks were served for children and families. Medical students, including Caroline Duksta ’26, Lindsay Aldrich ’25, Bazinet-Phillips, and Sarathy, were available to support the screening activities, share relevant educational materials for parents, and answer any lingering questions.
Caption: Larner medical student Caroline Duksta ’26 helps screen a child for vision abnormalities at the Family Connections Program Space.
Caption: Sujata Singh, M.D., Larner assistant professor of ophthalmology and UVM Medical Center opthamologist, meets with a child attending the vision screening follow-up at the Family Connections event.
“The group plans to make this an annual follow-up event, which is planned alongside Community Hearing Screening follow-up with the UVM Medical Center Audiology program, specifically championed by Stacy Jordan, Au.D.,” said Bazinet-Phillips.
Caption: Left to right: Larner medical students Sofie Leusch ’28 and Jasmine Bazinet-Phillips ’25, with CVHS Health Services Coordinator Justine Mee, hold up an alphabet blanket provided to families at the Family Health and Literacy Night at the Fletcher Free Library this fall.
Winter Health and Literacy Night
With the remaining funds from the City Market Co-op’s Seedling Grant, the Fletcher Free Library opened its doors to young families in the community, including New American families in the Head Start program, for a “Winter Health and Literacy Night” on December 11, 2024. The evening included more than five families with over a dozen children, listening to a lively book reading given by Butterfield of The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats over dinner, followed by a health and nutrition presentation developed by Larner first-year medical student Sofie Leusch. The presentation addressed topics CVHS identified as family areas of interest, such as how to keep kids healthy during the cold and flu season, sleeping well at night, and the best multivitamins to use during winter.
After the informal talk, Head Start’s winter clothing drive, which included new and gently used apparel donated by Larner medical students, allowed attendees to put on cozy hats, gloves, and jackets for safekeeping this winter. Other offerings included soft alphabet blankets, and a $45 City Market grocery gift card provided to each family. Attendees could also sign up for a library card and stop by an information table to discuss the importance of lead-free homes with Sean Melinn of the Burlington Lead Program.
As for program longevity, the hope for the future is a standardized Vision Screening Follow-Up, which can be led by medical students interested in ophthalmology under the guidance of ophthalmologists to create a more streamlined and consistent follow-up process for CVHS students and families. To accomplish this, the students are working with Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program outreach professional Patti Urie to ensure that families can benefit from vision screenings for years to come. Specifically, in support of the initiative, AHEC would serve as an institutionally established outreach program for medical students to gain curricular hours and credit for participation. Bazinet-Phillips also recently submitted an Aequitas Chapter Project Grant proposal, with the support of Justine Mee, to pilot more robust and sustainable funding for an existing Uber Health program to ensure children and families’ attendance at the follow-up appointments at the UVMMC Pediatric Ophthalmology Clinic.
Read more about the partner organizations mentioned in this article:
Through the City Market Co-op Seedling Grant program, City Market grants funding to projects from Vermont non-profit organizations whose work strengthens our local food system.
Champlain Valley Head Start serves children ages 3–5 and their families. Services for children promote school readiness, and include early education, health, nutrition, mental health, and resources for children with special needs.
The Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program is a statewide network of community and academic partners working together through two regional AHECs and a Program Office at UVM to improve the health of Vermonters.
The Fletcher Free Library’s mission is to inform, enrich, and nurture a community of lifelong learners. The vision of the library is that they are an essential partner in Burlington’s economic, social, and cultural growth.
The Burlington Lead Program (BLP) is a federal grant-funded housing program within the city’s Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO). The BLP provides 100 percent forgivable grants and loans towards a lead hazard reduction project to make qualifying homes safer and healthier. Lead hazard reduction treatments include replacement windows, deteriorated paint stabilization, and more.