WHO WE ARE:

•         Houston READ Commission is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to lead and mobilize a coalition of literacy providers and resources to improve the literacy landscape of Houston.
•         Established in 1988 by the Mayor and City Council, the Houston READ Commission oversees the Mayor’s Coalition for Literacy, an association of more than one hundred and fifty literacy sites in Houston. These member organizations, known as literacy providers, strive to eliminate illiteracy by offering educational services geared toward the specific needs of their communities.   The Houston READ Commission’s goal is to support and ensure providers’ effectiveness. 

WHY WE EXIST:

•         Low-literacy underpins almost all social ills, including crime rates, dropout rates,                   joblessness, homelessness, social injustice and health issue inequities.
•         1 out of 3 adult Houstonians is functionally illiterate (National Adult Literacy Survey, 2003).
•           Houston was recently ranked #60 out of the 75 least literate cities in the United States, #75 being the least literate.  This marks a major drop from our position in 2005 at #53 (Central Connecticut State University, 2010).
•         Texas ranks 47^th out of 50 states in terms of English literacy levels (US Department of Education).

WHAT WE DO:

•         The Houston READ Commission supports the Mayor’s Coalition for Literacy in the following areas:
  •       Advocacy on the city, state, and federal levels
  •         Fundraising and Resource Distribution
  •         Volunteer and Professional Development
  •         Technical Assistance
  •         Volunteer Recruitment
  •         Literacy Helpline
  •         Research and Development
  •         Best Literacy Practices Consulting

OUR RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 

•         Serves more than 175 literacy sites, supporting more than 50,000 people, annually.
•         Launched a new Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System, replacing the outdated Literacy Helpline, for learners, tutors, and donors to find the closest literacy provider to them.  This IVR system is able to track the number of callers in real time and is able to discern the effectiveness of provider agencies, based on the amount of time spent talking to callers.  This system not only improves the efficiency of Houston READ Commission's Helpline, but it also holds providers accountable for their services.
  
•           Partnering with ProLiteracy on the U.S. Conference on Adult Literacy (USCAL) and with Literacy Powerline on the National Literacy Coalition Conference in November 2011.
  
•         Hosted the First Annual Houston Reading Colloquium in 2010, at which the Commission asked leading experts in evidence-based reading research to offer their insight into the science of reading to adult literacy providers in Houston.  As a result of this Colloquium, Houston READ Commission and Houston-based Neuhaus Education Center created a Preliminary Reading Inventory (PRI) toolbook for adult educators to be able to teach reading more quickly and effectively.  The report from this event will be submitted to the Adult Education Great Cities Summit, a project created by the United States Department of Education.
•           Launched the Literacy Resource Center in the Magnolia Multi-Service Center, which will house various services for literacy providers in the Houston area, such as The Literacy Helpline, Volunteer Management, The Adult Learner Transition Center, Professional Development, Research and Development, In-Kind Resources, The Literacy Library, and a Technology Center.

Access our most recent 990 at: http://www2.guidestar.org/organizations/76-0151362/houston-read-commission.aspx