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THE NATIONAL GRANT PROGRAM
At the heart of the Foundation's grant-making is our National Grant Program. Organizations across the United States apply for highly competitive grants to develop new programs or expand existing programs that focus on the parent and child learning and reading together. Many new programs who receive Foundation grants as seed money report continued success beyond the duration of our grant because of the recognition they gain from other community organizations, who in turn, provide additional funding and institutionalization. Learn more about all of our National Grant Award recipients. >>
Barbara Bush Foundation Awards $600,000+ in New Grants
National Grant Program Supports Family Literacy in Ten States
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy announced today that its National Grant Program is awarding a total of $624,952 to 10 nonprofit organizations, public school districts, and other agencies across the United States to improve the literacy skills of parents and their children. Since its inception in 1989, the Foundation has awarded nearly $40 million to 863 family literacy programs in 50 states, including the nation's capital.
"I truly believe that being able to read, write, and comprehend is the key to a successful and happy life," said Barbara Bush. "And a literate society is important to keeping our country strong and safe. Our goal, and what these grants provide for, is to send children reading-ready to their first day of school, and to equip parents with the literacy tools they need for success. There is no greater opportunity for quality time between parent and child than reading together."
Ranging in size from $40,000 to $65,000 each, the 10 grants will support the development or expansion of family literacy programs in California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington State, and Virginia. Through a rigorous review process, grant recipients were selected from over 300 proposals submitted by a wide range of private, nonprofit and public institutions including libraries, correctional facilities, universities, housing projects, and public schools.
In addition to the National Grant Program, the Foundation also has statewide family literacy initiatives in Maine, Texas, and Maryland. These three initiatives currently are completing their respective grant reviews, and will announce their 2011 grants by June.
The Barbara Bush Foundation's 2011 National Grants recipients are:
Columbia Opportunities
Hudson, NY
$65,000
The Hudson Family Literacy Program will provide 30 families living in a high poverty area with literacy activities to improve reading and writing skills. These families will be afforded transportation, library visits, story hours, music, cooking, and home visits, in addition to the classroom activities for both adults and children.Monthly family literacy dinner nights will bring all participants together for additional PACT (Parents and Children Together) time throughout the ten month project. Hudson Valley has the highest rate of unemployment and poverty in the county due to major manufacturer closings. This project will include community collaboration that will provide employment search, healthcare, counseling and other services to supplement the program.
Continuing Development Inc. DBA Choices for Children
San Jose, CA
$64,962
This project, Together We Learn, of Choices for Children, and in partnership with Vision Literacy, will provide 40 low income, non-English speaking parents and their young children from urban East San Jose, with wrap-around services including adult education, parenting skills, and literacy-focused child development activities for the children. The project also includes interactive play and learn sessions, allowing families to engage in learning opportunities together that can also be replicated at home. Urban East San Jose is one of the most impoverished communities in Santa Clara County, with more than 40% of all residents born in different parts of Asia and Latin America.
Durango Adult Education Center and Del Alma
Durango, CO
$65,000
The Durango Family Literacy Is Power (FLIP) ) project plans to "flip" the widening achievement gap for Native American, Hispanic, and other economically disadvantaged families in the community. Parental involvement in their children's education will be at the heart of the project. This project will expand Del Alma's successful Alma After School literacy based program by adding the DAEC's (Durango Adult Education Center) four component Family Literacy Program, FLIP, to address the needs of 34 families with children, ages 3 months to 7 years of age. DAEC will provide transportation, food and clothing, as well as meals and snacks at all classes and events in this partnership project.
Fluvanna County Public Schools
Palmyra, VA
$65,000
Families Learning Togetheris an expanding project in rural central Virginia that will serve 25 families who are economically disadvantaged, many of whom are English Language Learners. Families attending the program will receive basic skills education as well as learn to read to their children. Additional activities in the project will include Parent-Child Dinner Nights, gift books to carry home to keep, and one home visit each month. Families Learning Together is designed to coordinate all components that will break the cycle of illiteracy: early childhood activities, adult education, parenting classes, and parent-child activities.
Horry County Schools
Conway, SC
$65,000
The Families Who Read Together Succeed Together is an expanding literacy program that will provide family literacy services for 35 low income families. This project will be school and home based and will include GED (General Education Development) and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) interactive literacy activities using MotherRead and I Care curriculum. This project will create opportunities for undereducated and unemployed families by helping them to improve their educational levels, employability skills, and parenting skills, as well as to advance the school readiness of their preschool children, ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Community support from partner agencies will help families with transportation, clothing, food, and shelter.
Inner-City Teaching Corps
Chicago, IL
$65,000
The Inner-City Teaching Corps organization, Family Resource and Learning Center, will expand the family literacy project serving high need urban areas. This project will serve 40 low income African American families with children 15 months to 5 years of age, and will focus on the East Garfield Park neighborhood which suffers from chronic unemployment. The adults will receive basic math and literacy skills instruction, as well as GED (General Education Development) preparation. Interactive literacy classes where parents and children together engage in language building activities, along with early learning experiences for the children, will be incorporated into the curriculum.
Mercer Street Friends
Trenton, NJ
$40,000
Mercer Street Friends will address the literacy needs in Trenton's West Ward, one of the city's highest poverty neighborhoods. This project will identify and serve 20 or more low income, primarily African American, and female-headed families with children. This expanding project will coordinate services with those of local schools and other non-profit agencies to enlarge the circle of care for more residents of Trenton's West Ward. The coordinated efforts are designed to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by increasing the parents' ability to secure living wage employment and their children's ability to succeed in school.
Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County
Iowa City, Iowa
$64,990
The Successful Families Initiative (SFI) project will expand into targeted mobile home neighborhoods to provide services for 50 families living in this isolated area of Johnson County. Eligible participants include low-income, low literacy level Latino families with children birth to eight years of age. SFI will offer adult and child education classes, parenting education, and Parent and Child Together (PACT) activities which will support the parents as first and lifelong teachers of their children. The Successful Families Initiative provides transportation, childcare, and home visits addressing family basic needs in order to build strong relationships within the community. Partners in this project include Kirkwood Community College and the Iowa Department of Education.
Peninsula College Family Literacy Program
Port Angeles, WA
$65,000
Peninsula College, located in the remote northwest coast of Washington state, will expand its Family Literacy Program into the Quileute Native American reservation in La Push, WA, and into a local housing authority development in Port Angeles. The Native American community's high dropout rate is tied to poverty, a shortage of resources, and a lack of literacy and educational preparation at an early age. This project will strengthen 24 Native American families by addressing the educational activities leading to self-sufficiency, as well as instruction to perform as a child's first teacher. A First Books grant will provide each child (0-7) with 12 books of his/her own, some of which will be used to introduce parenting topics, provide topics for field trips, and to measure reading fluency.
The Right Turn
Pierre, SD
$65,000
BRIDGES (B-Basic Reading; R-Reading Skills; I-Initiative Skills; D-Decision Making; G-Gains; E-Early Intervention; S-Seamless Transition) is a collaboration of The Right Turn and the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in central South Dakota. Crow Creek is 25 miles from the closest town, and most Native Americans living there do not have cars, nor money for gas if they had transportation. The BRIDGES project will break the intergenerational cycle of low-literacy in one of the most remote and poverty stricken areas in the United States. It will strengthen partnerships between families and childcare providers and work to close the literacy gap for 15-20 families on the Reservation. The remoteness of the area will necessitate several home visits as well as class times together. Transportation, food, clothing, healthcare and employability counseling will be provided through community partners.
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