Houston Reads Day

SAVE THE DATE: MARCH 2, 2021

Houston, we don’t just have a problem. We have a crisis – a literacy crisis.

The Need:

• Reading difficulties can create adverse outcomes for children such as serious behavior problems, joblessness, crime, and homelessness throughout their lifetime.
• Low-income children will hear 30 million fewer words over the first four years of their life compared to their more affluent peers.
• 41% of young children in the Houston area are not ready for kindergarten.
• 63% of 3rd graders in the Houston area do not read at grade level.

The Solution:

• Since 2006, Literacy Now’s programs have made a significant impact on the community, impacting the lives of more than 19,000 children and parents.
• Literacy Now provides reading intervention, reading readiness, and trained volunteer mentors to students. Additionally, we deliver interactive parent engagement programming that is instrumental to children’s long-term success.
• These programs empower students to read on grade level by the end of 3rd grade.

The Opportunity:

Literacy Now is launching an $8 million Houston Reads campaign to fund a 5-year expansion plan that will:

• Increase the number of high-needs schools we serve from 10 to 45;
• Increase the number of students served in our Reading Intervention program from 516 to 2,880; and
• Reduce our per child cost from $2,246 currently to approximately $1,400.

Are you ready to Engage, Impact and Empower? Click here for more information.

A single day for Houstonians to come together to read to students, support Literacy Now’s expansion, and bring awareness to the literacy crisis in our city.

• 400 volunteers reading for 15 minutes each
• 25 HISD schools served
• 10,000 K-3^rd grade students impacted
• Year one fundraising goal:  $500,000 

For more information, please contact Ken Kelly at ken@literacynowhouston.org

*This event will be virtual due to COVID-19 safety recommendations.