Annual campaign

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Donation Total: $20 One Time

Created using the Donation Thermometer plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/donation-thermometer/.$70,000Raised $13,751 towards the $70,000 target.$13,751Raised $13,751 towards the $70,000 target.20%
50 years of adult literacy

2024 was the 50th anniversary of the Kalamazoo Literacy Council providing free, critical literacy and language skills to adults who struggle to read. We remain as passionate and steadfast as ever about serving those who need us and we offer deep gratitude for the many donors, volunteers, and partners who have supported us through the decades.  

Related: Stories of volunteer service and adult learner excellence

Our in-person and online programs strengthen reading, writing, spelling, and comprehension skills for native English speakers and English Language Learners. We believe everyone deserves access to quality adult literacy services that empower them to reach their full potential.  

2025 Literacy Advocate of the Year
Elizabeth Isidro, Ph.D.  
Dr. Elizabeth Isidro is an Associate Professor of Literacy Studies and the Director of the McGinnis Reading Center at Western Michigan University. Since relocating to Michigan in 2018, she has worked with a wide range of stakeholders—Kalamazoo youth, families, college students, adult learners, university faculty, and community organizations—to promote literacy and advocate for socially just literacy instruction. Central to her advocacy is the belief that every learner brings rich cultural, linguistic, and experiential knowledge to the classroom and possesses unique learning needs. She maintains that literacy instruction must be responsive to these diverse backgrounds and should be grounded in humanizing pedagogies and relational practices. As society continues to evolve, she remains committed to seeking expansive ways of connecting with learners—through alternative texts, multimodal instruction, inclusive materials, and diverse ways of knowing.
 
June Miller Legacy Award in Literacy
Esther Gray, Ph.D.  
Dr. Esther Gray is a retired associate professor from the WMU English Department. She served on the Kalamazoo Literacy Council Program Committee from 2012-2024, and on the Western Michigan University-Kalamazoo Literacy Council Advisory Board from its inception to the present. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a master’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies at Kansas State University and a doctorate in Language Education at Indiana University. Her areas of expertise are in literacy studies, specifically reading and writing development from early childhood through adulthood, and also reading and writing instruction techniques. Before her years as a university professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Illinois State University, and Western Michigan University, she taught elementary and middle school. She has very positive memories of years working closely with Will Rabidoux and his sixth grade students in the former Washington Writers’ Academy building.

Our Impact: Supporting the Resilience of Parents

Parent Literacy Together is a multi-generational learning initiative that helps parents improve their literacy and language skills so they can help their children and families succeed. It connects parents who are reading at a low grade level to existing family literacy and child literacy programs and prepares them to be successful “first teachers” of their children.

The KLC engages parents of school-aged children with weekly in-person and online classes. We also offer outdoor learning in the Read and Seed Community Garden and Interpretive Learning Center, located at Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Michigan. Through this partnership, KLC parents of children ages 0-4 have access to free childcare in the Little Scholars Child Development Center. KLC parents also have access to our Workforce Literacy instruction for improving job skills, as well as Health Literacy, Financial Literacy, and Digital Literacy to improve the well-being of every household. We proudly serve these learners with a faculty of more than 200 trained volunteers.

Gilmore Foundation 1:1 Match 

Thanks to the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, new contributions or increased contributions from last year will be matched dollar-for-dollar. We encourage you to make a gift to the 2023 Everyone Needs to Read Annual Campaign and help us take advantage of this wonderful gift.

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Donation Total: $20 One Time

 

 

 

 

In Kalamazoo County, more than 25,000 adults struggle to read.

 

 

 

 

Every Contribution makes a difference

  • $75 provides training materials and workbooks for one tutor and one student.
  • $150 provides annual subscriptions (newspapers, books, and magazines) for 10 adult learners.
  • $300 trains three volunteer tutors to begin literacy instruction.
  • $750 provides scholarships for 10 tutors or instructors to attend training workshops to sharpen their skills.
  • $1,000 funds the annual costs for materials, assessments, and instruction for 10 adult learners.
  • $2,500 funds the books and supplies for a Community Literacy Center that can serve 25 learners annually.
  • $5,000 funds the online academic instruction and in-class tutoring support for 50 adult learners annually.

Supporting tutor and student needs

The KLC provides free books and supplies to students and tutors so everyone who wants to learn how to read has the materials needed to take that very important step. Each tutor/student matched pair uses $100 annually in books and supplies. 

$20,000

will be used to support 200 matched pairs.

Working Together

More than 30 organizations are working together as part of the Adult Literacy Collaboratives (ALC) of Kalamazoo County to ensure every adult has the educational level and skills to be successful at work, at home, and in the community. This group unites adult education, workforce development, literacy service providers, business, and other organizations to support the cause of adult literacy and is convened monthly by the KLC. Contact us for more information on the ALC. 

$2,500

will be used to support the ALC.

Funds will support Parent Literacy Programs.

Workforce Development

Everyone needs to read to get a job. The JOBS Program strengthens critical literacy skills for the workplace.

Early Childhood Ed

Everyone needs to read to help their children learn. 186 parents study with the KLC and our "Parent Literacy Together" class helps parents and children can both enjoy learning.

Healthcare

Everyone needs to read to manage their health. Our "Read and Seed" Health Literacy Course helps learners make healthier decisions for their families.

All learners should have access to quality literacy services that empower them to reach their goals.

Everyone
needs
to read

Lyda Stillwell, Volunteer Tutor and Assessor

Von Washington Jr., The Kalamazoo Promise 

Mary Doud, Kalamazoo Public Library

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Donation Total: $20 One Time

Keep in touch

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Kalamazoo Literacy Council is a member organization of ProLiteracy. 

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