Did You Know . . .

Ashanti, Kenneth & Temar display enthusiasm for literacy at Hospitality House.

Think about this for a second: 61% of low-income families have zero children’s books in their homes.

Did you know that a child in a low-income family enters kindergarten with a listening vocabulary of 3,000 words, while a child of a middle-income family enters with a listening vocabulary of 20,000 words?

Did you know that there is almost a 90% probability that a child will remain a poor reader at the end of the fourth grade if the child is a poor reader at the end of first grade?

These are just some of the crushing statistics that consume caring souls daily.  If we listed more of these statistics – especially statistics showing the widening achievement gap between inner-city students and suburban –  it would paint a picture of an irreversible problem, an affliction that we as caring and capable human beings are not prepared to heal;  and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Illiteracy is a solvable problem.  And it can start with getting books into the homes of low-income families. We can get  into the reasons as to why many families don’t have books at home, but what’s more important is that we as a community under God heed these familiar words, “…For unto whom much is given, of him shall be much required…(Luke 12:48 KJV).  Literacy might now seem like a simple gift, something we tap into everyday to get through plain tasks.  But without it we are paralyzed.  Literacy is a gift that can be re-wrapped over and over, getting passed over from one person to the next.  It can start with you.

Donate a book.  Volunteer to help a student learn to read.

If you questions about volunteering to be a Reading Mentor at Hospitality House please contact Sarah Fischer at sfishcher@hhyd.org or 612. 522.4485 x19.  If you would like to donate books and need more information on what types of books we need, please contact Sean Sweat at ssweat@hhyd.org or 612.522.4485 x13.

Mission:  Hospitality House Youth Development exists to provide a Christian outreach focused on the spiritual, intellectual and physical development of inner city youth and their families.