Outstanding National Service Program - Family Literacy Americorps Program

The Family Literacy AmeriCorps Program partners with local schools in the greater Grand Rapids area to break the generational cycle of low literacy. AmeriCorps members assist parents, who in most cases do not speak English as their first language, to improve their own language and literacy skills, increase the use of literacy-related activities and more effectively engage with their children’s education. The program offers to the public one-on-one tutoring, employment-based classes, and literacy courses. The AmeriCorps team also assists with implementing monthly Family Literacy Nights where parents and their children read together and learn fun literacy activities that they can do at home. This AmeriCorps program not only strengthens the literacy of the family unit, but helps to strengthen the economy, civic engagement and the educational system of the west Michigan community.