August Edition - Northeast Florida Jewish Life Magazine

Page 22

IT’S YOUR BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT ON JEWISH-OWNED BUSINESSES

MANDARIN READING CLINIC processing and/or reading comprehension. Fast forward to March 2020…the Covid-19 Pandemic changed business. Mandarin Reading Clinic adapted. One-to-one in-person reading therapy transitioned to virtual therapy. Simultaneously, the need for masks began. Local doctors created the Masks4Jax initiative, providing free masks to the Jacksonville community. Mask distribution involved area restaurants providing them to patrons. Lynda, who keeps kosher, realized she wouldn’t be able to get a mask from a restaurant. She wondered if she could participate in the Masks4Jax initiative as a business owner. She applied for Mandarin Reading Clinic to become a distributor. Lynda and Sarah made weekly warehouse An SLP provides reading therapy

Mandarin Reading Clinic is co-owned by Lynda Gridley and Sarah French, Speech Language Pathologists who met while working at River Garden. In 2013 Lynda’s daughter, Eva, was diagnosed with dyslexia. Lynda and Sarah learned Speech Therapy techniques for remediating reading and Mandarin Reading Clinic was born. Hundreds of students have come to the clinic, which employs Speech Language Pathologists. The only non-SLP is the math tutor. The typical student needs assistance with phonological

22

By Lynda Gridley

Sarah and Lynda prepare to distribute masks.

trips and received hundreds of masks. Lynda realized she could also offer the masks to the Jewish community who, like her, would not receive masks from area restaurants. She posted on the Jews in Jax Facebook group. People from across the Jacksonville Jewish community were recipients. Members of The Temple, the Jacksonville Jewish Center, Etz Chaim and Chabad reached out for masks. The Federation, the JCA and the Jacksonville Jewish Center received

hundreds of masks to keep employees and visitors safe. Some came to the clinic for masks, but most were delivered to their doors. In all, 800 masks were distributed! To learn more about virtual or in-clinic reading and math services provided at Mandarin Reading Clinic, call (904) 880-7273, find them on their Facebook page or at MandarinReadingClinic. com.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.