American Adults are illiterate.
American children drop out
each year (before COVID).
American school children
cannot read.
In the past 2 years, READ Northwest donated approximately 50,000 new books to school children In Vancouver, Battle Ground, Hazel Dell and the surrounding communities.
Our two pilot schools, Sacajawea in Hazel Dell and Hathaway Elementary in Washougal, both show promise for the "Reading Buddies" program. In partnership with area Churches, local community leaders, and dedicated volunteers, Read Northwest launched these programs concurrently in March 2022.
The Vancouver School District plans to expand the program significantly over the next 2-3 years.
The Washougal School District plans to expand the program to one additional Elementary school and multiple grade levels in the 2022-23 school year with hopes to expand to other Title I schools.
The team at Read Northwest piloted a first-of-its-kind virtual literacy program in our area. Partnering with BookNook, Battle Ground Schools and St. Helens, OR schools and students, it provided the BookNook Literacy Program.
In Summer 2022, Read Northwest plans to launch its second BookNook program in partnership with a local children at a Family homeless shelter.
In early 2018, the idea for Read Northwest was founded by a group of Vancouver business leaders. While in the planning and development stage of creating this non-profit, COVID-19 emerged and put a halt to the whole process. It shut down any and all volunteer activity within the schools and other organizations.
During this time, organizers continued to lay the foundation by building relationships and alliances with a wide variety of stakeholders. As the effort grew, hundreds of conversations took place with various community service and civic organizations, Clark County School Districts, and faith-based organizations.
With all these efforts put together, Read Northwest has finally come to life in Vancouver and surrounding communities.
