$65K in Early Literacy Mini-Grants Awarded

Beyond Our Gates is awarding $65,000 to 10 San Joaquin County agencies or organizations as part of its Early Literacy Mini-Grant program.

The grants are funded by the James Irvine Foundation as part of its outreach through a grant to Beyond Our Gates at University of the Pacific. A total of $127,000 in mini-grants has been awarded in the past two years - in addition to other programs funded through the Irvine Foundation.A panel of six - five community members with strong backgrounds in literacy and one Pacific student from the Community Involvement Program - served as grant application evaluators.

The grants will go to:

• TLC School for the Homeless Foundation, $10,000 for reading programs and staffing.
• The San Joaquin County Office of Education, $10,000 for an Early Language Institute.
• Manteca Unified School District, $10,000 for the Raising A Reader program.
• Stockton Unified School District, $10,000 for kindergarten literacy development programs.
• Creative Child Care, $7,000 for the Raising A Reader program.
• Tracy Boys & Girls Club, $5,000 for reading intervention work.
• YMCA of San Joaquin County, $5,000 for its Power Summer Scholars sessions.
• San Joaquin Child Abuse Prevention Council, $3,000 for the Raising a Reader program.
• El Concilio, $3,000 for the Raising a Reader program.
• Hilliard AME Zion Church, $2,000 for summer learning programs.

"As we enter into our 26^th year of serving children in transition, we take pride in providing our students with the necessary instructions and tools to enter the mainstream education system and succeed. We are most grateful to you for your support and confidence in our program," wrote Sara Garfield, Executive Director of TLC School for the Foundation, in a letter to Beyond Our Gates.