Recent Grantees: The First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative for Texas 

The winners of The First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative for Texas grants for 2011 have been announced, bringing the total number of family literacy program implementation grants to 156 since the Initiative began. This is the 16th year of providing grants for family literacy projects in Texas. Launched at the Governor's Mansion in Austin in 1996 by Honorary Chair Laura Bush, The First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative has awarded over $4.3 million to create or expand family literacy programs in which parents, as well as their children, build their literacy skills by reading and learning together. To date thousands of families have benefited from participation in these innovative programs in 83 Texas cities, and the Initiative is still going strong. This year, nine grants totaling almost $450,000 were selected for funding to implement family literacy programs.

"A child who can read is a child who can succeed in school and in life. Parents demonstrate by participation and example that reading is a joy and books are treasures," said Mrs. Laura Bush. "The impact of family literacy programs have cannot be measured simply by the number of participants, but more accurately by the depth of change and lasting impact in communities across Texas."

A program of The Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy, The First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative for Texas awards grants of up to $50,000, to public and private non-profit organizations that work within the family unit. Technical assistance for the new grantees is provided by the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning at Texas A&M University in College Station.

For the first time this year, the Initiative also offered $5,000 Planning Grants to organizations that intend develop a future family literacy program. The Planning Grant is intended to support a 9-month intentional planning process (from June 2011 through February 2012) for communities that are interested in building a family literacy program, but that need resources and technical assistance to build a coalition of stakeholders and a plan to develop a program. Planning Grant recipients should be better equipped the following year to compete for a First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative for Texas program implementation grant.

The Barbara Bush Texas Fund for Family Literacy receives the majority of its funding from the annual fundraisers, A Celebration of Reading, held in Houston and Dallas. These literacy events, at which best selling authors read from their works, also fund The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Barbara Bush is Honorary Chair of the national Foundation and is President of The Barbara Bush Texas Fund.

First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative for Texas implementation grant winners for 2011 are:

Advocacy Outreach, Elgin –  This project proposes to expand existing family literacy programming in Manor/Elgin, now serving only English language learners, to include adult basic education and GED students and their young children. The intensive, year-round program will be provided through five integrated components: adult education, early childhood education, parent education with a focus on teaching parents to teach their children, and both center-based and home-based interactive literacy activities for parents and children.

Austin Learning Academy – The ALA Family Literacy Project will expand their successful family literacy program to Walnut Creek Elementary School by providing comprehensive services to low-income families including adult education, distance learning, early childhood education, parenting education, parent-child interaction and support services in an integrated program design.

Lamar Consolidated ISD, Rosenberg – Project LEARN provides literacy skills, tutoring, homework assistance and developmental childcare while parents attend class. Parents learn effective methods for reading with their children from skilled reading specialists, while children are taught pre-reading and reading instruction by trained early childhood educators. SHARE is the intergenerational link between all components, enabling families to enjoy reading and participate in literacy-based activities together. Home visits and parent education provide additional literacy support to families..

Northside ISD, San Antonio – Project Tumaini (a Swahili word that means to hope and believe with confidence), will provide refugee families from various countries with intensive and differentiated instruction focused on becoming English literate. Programs will provide children and families with linguistically appropriate educational support services, prepare students (adult and children) for academic success, provide awareness of the importance of literacy, educate school personnel on the unique needs of refugee students, help restore the parent-child bond that was lost or weakened due to the refugee experience, and help refugee parents become active participants in their children's education.

Diboll ISD – The 'We Love Books' project is designed to increase participation in Diboll's family literacy program as well as provide enriched opportunities for the parents and children to participate in activities together. Books will be the basis of integrated activities with parents and children. The grant will also assist in providing resources for two Bilingual nights at the local schools, which will be for all bilingual/limited English parents to attend and learn about the opportunities available to them through the family literacy program, while learning how they can be more involved in their child's education.

Communities in Schools, Austin – The ASPIRE program provides a comprehensive and proven strategy that breaks down barriers to educational success. The program integrates intensive services for parents and their young children, including adult basic literacy, GED, ESL, and computer literacy, early childhood education (high-quality infant, toddler, and pre-school education), parenting education and support (home visits and group parenting classes), and intergenerational learning activities (PACT and family fun events).

Houston ISD-Patterson Elementary –This program will continue existing adult ESL, basic literacy, and GED education and early childhood education efforts, while expanding and strengthening parent and child time together (PACT) , so that parents may become full partners in their child's education and help break the cycle of illiteracy.

Literacy Council of Tyler – Literacy Council of Tyler has partnered since 2007 with Tyler Junior College and Tyler ISD as the Family Learning Center of Tyler. This program meets the educational and childcare needs of low-income, limited-English-proficient families, the childcare needs of working parents, and helps train the educators of the future. This grant will be used to expand that successful Family Literacy program to serve African American basic literacy and GED students and their families, in addition to the Hispanic ESL families currently served.

Adult Reading Center, Pearland – The Pearland Family Literacy Project is a collaboration between the Adult Reading Center and Pearland Independent School District for limited English proficient Hispanic families and is an expansion of a successful Latino Family Literacy Project into a full family literacy program. The project will incorporate adult literacy classes utilizing a research-based curriculum for adults, a reading enrichment program for children in after school care, and the Latino Family Literacy Project curriculum for Parent and Child Time.

In addition, the following organizations have been selected to receive $5,000 planning grants:

Alliance for Multicultural Community Services, Houston

Friends of the Elgin Library

Region 5 Education Service Center, Jasper

Victoria Adult Literacy Council