Palmetto Literacy Council

Palmetto Literacy Council

Through the COVID shutdown, seven months after opening, and after it was the Chapin Foundation that supported us to help our community learn to read, write, and do math. We were able to find other funding sources, start raising funds through fundraisers, and make a difference in the lives of adults and children in our community who struggle with basic reading, writing, and/or math.

We have so many stories of success due to the Chapin Foundation’s support. We have a young woman who was in grade 6 when she began tutoring. She was pulled out of Language Arts at school into a special education classroom. She was struggling in Science and Social Studies, which both required her ability to read. She started tutoring reading at grade 4 and continued until she graduated from our program completing the grade 6 reading level during her first marking period of her freshman year in high school. In the meantime, a guidance counselor requested she apply for the Early College Program when she was in grade 8, she made the Waitlist for that program. She has attained a 4.2 GPA this year and is in the top third of her class.

We’ve had adults who speak limited English learn to read English. We have students who have left our program reading at grade level at school, when they started with us, they were 6 months to 2 years behind in school. It doesn’t happen overnight and never at the same speed for everyone. Our program is individualized for each student. We can make this happen due to the support and guidance from the Chapin Foundation.

The Chapin Foundation bridged my experience and expertise with the nonprofit world to make our team strong. We have so much more to learn and as we grow, the Chapin Foundation’s support and guidance is and will be immensely appreciated. The Chapin Foundation is making our community stronger, more educated, and a place where members of the community are thriving.