Syracuse is the birthplace of the modern literacy movement, home to such influential organizations as Laubach International, Literacy Volunteers of America and ProLiteracy. Today we are building on this history with a strong communitywide coalition to expand proven programming, scale up innovative approaches to education and compete more successfully for funding.
We take a holistic approach to the community’s needs and a collective approach to our strengths. In addition to providing grant support in the conventional role of a funder, we have also looked at non-traditional approaches aimed at catalyzing the campaign for literacy and achieving measurable impact.
In 2003, the Community Foundation set out to improve our community’s literacy. This began with the read ahead initiative that offered capacity building grants to daycare centers, schools and adult education programs. Since then, the program’s vision and effectiveness has taken on a life of its own, evolving into what it is today – a community-wide initiative that is making leaps and bounds towards its goal of 100% literacy in Onondaga County.
In 2008, read ahead transitioned into the Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County (LCOC), hiring an Executive Director and transferring leadership to community partners. Since then, the LCOC has worked in partnership with us to establish a birth-toadulthood literacy pipeline.
The building blocks for literacy are formed from the minute we are born, so to have impact on our children we are providing them with books and supports through the Imagination Library. This program, being piloted on Syracuse’s North Side, encourages parents to read to their children daily and sends an age appropriate book through the mail each month from birth through their fifth birthday.
To serve school age children, we have partnered with Say Yes to Education Syracuse. This project complements the Community Foundation’s 2008 pledge of $1 million to the scholarship fund to ensure that all eligible students receive SUNY college tuition if they work hard and overcome life’s many hurdles.
For those adults for whom literacy and employment are persistent challenges, the Coalition has helped to establish Literacy Zones on the North and West sides of the city where parents and children can receive the guidance and support they need to pursue their own literacy goals.
We are off to a great start, but there is much to be done to reach our goal of 100% literacy. To learn more about the Literacy Coalition, visit their website at www.onliteracy.org.