Empowering Families
By expanding access to family literacy programs and access to books in the home, parents are empowered with the knowledge and tools to become confident and competent facilitators of their child’s early literacy development, and children can practice their reading skills at home.
Read and Rise
The role of families is vital to ensuring that children enter kindergarten possessing the knowledge and skills to be reading ready. We partner with Houston Area Urban League to implement Scholastic’s Read and Rise® program, aimed at teaching families the importance of reading together. Workshops model effective strategies and give parents the tools to support their child’s early literacy development.
Family Place Libraries
Family Place Libraries™ is a national evidence-based model in which an area of a public library is transformed into a vibrant space with specialized collection of materials and learning stations and library staff are certified to provide specialized workshops and support for families of children under age five to learn together. Since 2018, we have proudly partnered with Harris County and Houston Public Library systems to install this program in more than 19 branches.
Success Through Adult Reading (STAR)
As one key strategy to advance the Adult Literacy Blueprint, we created Success Through Adult Reading (STAR). The goal of STAR is to bring adult literacy to the forefront and ensure that more adults have access to the courses they need to learn English, earn a GED, acquire 21st Century digital literacy skills, and develop core reading and writing competencies to have a brighter future and better life for themselves and their families.
Raising A Reader
The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, HCA Houston Healthcare Clear Lake and HCA Houston Healthcare West are partnering on an exciting pilot project, called Raising a Reader, to help educate and equip more than 900 parents to be their child’s first teachers. Through Raising a Reader, parents will learn about the importance of healthy brain development and early learning and receive a book and complementary resources to get them off to a great start.
Join Our Movement!
You can make a difference. Whether you give time, talent, or treasure, we invite you to join us in making a difference in the lives of children and adults through the power of literacy.