GoFundMe to Stop the Summer Slide
Brandon Chrostowski reads with his son. According to Reading is Fundamental, reading books aloud to children helps to stimulate their imaginations, expands their understanding of the world, and helps them develop listening skills, language skills, and prepares them to understand written words. Literacy in the HOOD recommends beginning readers spend 15-20 minutes per day reading with or without help.
Free Books for All.
Literacy in the HOOD pops up with free, donated books in book giveaway displays that attract young people wherever youth gather in and around Cleveland, Ohio.
The Seeds of Literacy website tells us:
66% of Cleveland adults are functionally illiterate.
When an adult’s reading, language, or math skills rank in the two lowest literacy levels — like they do for an estimated 66% of Cleveland adults age 16 and over — things like bus schedules, job applications, and medical instructions are extremely difficult to understand, much less make use of. Some Cleveland neighborhoods, like the Kinsman area on Cleveland’s east side (near Seeds of Literacy’s at-capacity site), have a functional illiteracy rate as high as 95%.
Consistently getting to a job on time? Helping kids with homework? Making healthy decisions? Increased literacy skills and resources help these adults become more able to help themselves, their families, and their communities.
(Sources: Center for Urban Poverty and Social Change, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 2011 update; National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 2003)
