The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County was awarded the 2020 Health & Human Services Organization of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches as part of their annual Business Awards recognition, which was held virtually August 20, 2020.
Kristin Calder, CEO, Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County accepted the award on behalf of the Literacy Coalition’s dedicated board of directors, dynamic staff, enthusiastic Literacy AmeriCorps members, committed volunteer tutors, partners in schools, libraries and other community-based organizations, and the 29,000 adults, children and families served by the Coalition each year.
“This recognition allows us to raise awareness about the families that struggle each day, and the ways we are helping to provide literacy and life skills to help them be successful in school, and in life. Our programs and initiatives have an impact countywide and even in challenging times when we can’t meet in person, we have adapted to deliver our programs virtually to continue educating and engaging our students so they continue to reach milestones and make important gains.”
The Literacy Coalition’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our community by promoting and achieving literacy. The Coalition provides literacy instruction in family education programs and at workplace or community sites to help adults gain employability skills. Literacy AmeriCorps members teach, tutor, mentor and provide homework help in libraries, schools and nonprofits agencies. The Coalition’s work with children includes collaborating with pediatricians who advise parents about the importance of reading with their children. The Coalition recruits, trains and supports volunteers who tutor elementary school students who are struggling readers and also teaches literature-based, activity-driven curriculums in afterschool programs and summer camps. In the last year, the Coalition distributed 112,011 books to children, families and organizations.
A recipient of the coveted 4-star Charity Navigator rating for 11 consecutive years, the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County works through extensive outreach and collaboration with a network of community partners to ensure that individuals who need to improve their literacy skills receive the help they need. The Coalition provides services to 29,000 adults, children and families each year. For more details, visit www.LiteracyPBC.org or call 561-279-9103.
About the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County
The Literacy Coalition is a not for profit organization committed to ensuring that every resident of Palm Beach County, Florida is able to read. In Palm Beach County, 22.2% of adults lack basic literacy skills and is unable to read and understand information found in books, newspapers and manuals. Nearly half of all third graders in our county are not reading on grade level. Through extensive outreach and collaboration with a network of community partners, the Literacy Coalition strives to ensure that individuals who need to improve their literacy skills receive the help they need. This year, the Literacy Coalition provided services to more than 29,000 adults, children and families through 11 programs in 169 sites from Jupiter to Boca Raton to Belle Glade. We teach adults with low literacy skills in the workplace and in community centers. We work with pediatricians to introduce low-income families to the importance of reading with their children. We provide reading partners who share books weekly with three-year-old children to help them blossom into life-long readers. We oversee a home visiting program that encourages verbal interaction and educational play between parents and their preschool children. We coordinate up to 40 Literacy AmeriCorps members who serve as tutors for children and adults and as graduation coaches to aid struggling high school students. We support and encourage literacy programs and initiatives throughout the county.
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