The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation believes that every child in America should have the chance to achieve his or her own maximum potential. The Foundation has been a leading contributor to America's Promise since 1997 because of their unique and extraordinary focus on youth. America's Promise Alliance for Youth has constructed strong bonds between a variety of government agencies and a host of organizations in the public and private sectors. Their goal is simple: to reach into the lives of children in America to give hope, health, safety, and opportunity to those that are in need.

The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation has supported several unique initiatives as part of our collaboration with America's Promise. The Foundation worked with nationally renowned health care providers to develop our program, Ready for School. This program successfully screens children before age 6 for hearing and vision impairment. Additionally, we worked with the Children's Health Fund, a New York City based mobile healthcare network to provide early intervention, treatment and equipment to help learning-disabled children overcome preventable barriers to education.

The Foundation's funding in support of universal newborn hearing screenings, which identifies infants who may suffer from hearing impairments, has blossomed into a nationwide program. The screening is painless to infants, cost-effective for hospitals and extremely beneficial for children with hearing impairments. Identifying children with hearing impairments at the earliest possible opportunity is essential because of the impact hearing loss can have on their ability to develop language skills. Last year, the program assisted in deploying neonatal hearing and vision assessment units to hospitals that screened more than 2,500,000 infants born in our country, which represents 65 percent of all newborns in 2003.

In 2004, the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation served as the lead sponsor of the Promise of America Celebration awards ceremony and dinner in the East Room of The White House. The evening program was hosted by First Lady Laura Bush.

The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation is proud to join the co-founders, Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife Alma to ensure that America's Promise continues to be a positive force serving to help all young people across the nation.