Literacy and Hope Foundation

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The inspiration for Literacy and Hope came about 2 years ago when Kathy Kirk met a summer camp student who was in the 4th grade but couldn’t read. In fact, he didn’t even know his letter sounds. His inability to read resulted in poor self-esteem, acting out in class to cover up his inability and a lack of enthusiasm to learn. She immediately found someone to assist him during the summer and saw a significant change in his behavior in the classroom. So, when Kathy retired in May of 2023, she began to recruit individuals to help her bring this opportunity to other students in need.  With a board of seven incredible women from different backgrounds (education, marketing, business development, finance, engineering, and more), they have managed to create a reading intervention program that is based on four pillars (Science of Reading, Neuroscience, Self-Esteem Building, and Relationship Building).

Kathy has seen firsthand the benefit of these four pillars in the advancement of a student’s reading skills. In August of 2023, she met a young lady in 11th grade who couldn’t read. Kathy used this young lady as a pilot for Literacy and Hope’s program. The program began with teaching the young lady her letter sounds and progressed from there. Within 8 months and only meeting once per week, this young lady is now able to read 5 letter words, has learned the essential 109 sight words, and has learned to believe in herself. Not only did Kathy pour into her academically, but she was intentional about building her up as a person, learning what her goals and dreams for her future are and developing a relationship with her. The relationship piece was a key component of this young lady’s success. The young lady began to trust Kathy and view her as an ally and friend. She relies on Kathy to instruct and advise her on life issues.

You might be thinking that these are isolated situations but they are not.

Today, 67% of students and 82% of low-income students can't read at grade level by the end of third grade. This is when you are supposed to go from learning to read to reading to learn. It's America's number one education crisis and we want to partner with schools and families to reverse these statistic.

Literacy and Hope provides FREE, weekly, individual reading intervention coaching to students in K-3rd grade and older students whose reading proficiency is below basic for their grade. 

ONLY 17% of African American students in St. Louis City  Public schools are proficient in reading and this % is only slightly better in predominately African American schools in North County.

Help us reach more children with our literacy program. It costs, $960/yr to coach a student 1x/week and $1,920 for 2x/week . 

Partner with friends or relatives and split the cost to sponsor one child or multiple children for a year

You Can set up month payments at https://www.pledge.to/donations-3800#donate

Learn More About Literacy and Hope Foundation - https://literacyandhope.org/