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The Power of Presence
Virtual Book Circles

Stronger Me, Stronger We — The Power of Presence
To harness the inherent power of Suncoast families and strengthen the parents who shape them, the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (SCGLR), with support from The Patterson Foundation, facilitated a series of book circles open to the community to explore The Power of Presence, written by Peabody Award-winning author Joy Thomas Moore.
SCGLR kicked off its first Power of Presence event on January 31, 2019, hosting Joy Thomas Moore and more than 200 book circle passionaries who wanted to explore how to “be the voice in a child’s ear even when you’re not with them.” In total, more than 900 people participated.

Since the book circles began, nearly 1000 people from local businesses, nonprofits, government, and the media have explored the 22 different short stories from single moms shared in the book and came away with their own takeaways and A-ha! moments. A toolkit on how to replicate this book circle initiative in your own community is available HERE

In the time of COVID-19, SCGLR reconnected with Joy virtually to discuss the evolving changes brought about by the pandemic via a series of Zoom chats on how the seven pillars of presence can help guide families through these challenging times. In partnership with The Florida Center for Early Childhood, we are happy to share brief RECAP videos with Joy’s insight into The Power of Presence.

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