Jalyn* was 17 when he started working with Redwood Literacy to improve his reading skills. Like so many students, he’d made it through high school without becoming a fluent reader, and it was holding him back. The United States has long been in the midst of a literacy crisis. Schools lack the resources and staff to meaningfully address this crisis, and students are passed through from grade to grade without having learned basic literacy skills. Especially in under-resourced communities, the students who need it most are never given adequate literacy instruction. Illiteracy had damaged Jalyn’s confidence and left him unprepared to pursue the life he wanted.

Jalyn found Redwood Literacy through our partnership with Lawndale Christian Legal Center, a revered organization that addresses crime, poverty, and violence in one of the most underserved neighborhoods in Chicago. For four years, LCLC and Redwood have nurtured a partnership that’s changing lives. Many of the court-involved young people they’re advocating for have never learned to read, so while LCLC guides their clients through the court system – supporting them with a holistic approach concentrated on the highest risk factors for violence – Redwood steps in to provide critical literacy remediation. We’re giving young people like Jalyn the tools they need to pursue a stable, reliable, and safe adult life. 

Redwood and LCLC have developed a model that works. In-person and virtually, students get explicit, best-in-practice instruction that’s been proven to effectively close literacy gaps. Working in small groups, these students – who are paid a minimum wage hourly stipend for attending class – are changing their relationship with the written word while developing essential social and emotional skills. Highly motivated, they show up before or after work, finding time to attend class despite busy schedules and high-anxiety circumstances. They’re choosing to invest in themselves by investing in their education, and it’s changing their lives. They’re learning how smart they are, how talented they are, and how worthy they are of the futures they’ve envisioned for themselves. 

If you want to positively influence young people in crisis, literacy is one of the best places to start. It’s a real, tangible solution: they make money, they learn how to read, they have confidence restored. “Why didn’t they ever teach us this in school?” one LCLC participant said last year. These students are eager for knowledge. 

Until he found Redwood, Jalyn believed he couldn’t read – because he’d never been taught. But after a few years working with Redwood instructors, Jalyn’s reading fluency and comprehension have improved dramatically, and his broad smile makes it evident how this has impacted his sense of self. Now, when he speaks of his future, he’s not discussing hypothetical, out-of-reach goals – he’s making plans. 

Literacy is a social justice issue. The ability to read independently is a necessity, but the data tells us our culture regards it as a privilege: you learn to read if you can afford it. If we want to end violence, we need to invest in the youth of our communities who are oppressed by poverty, inequity, and the cruelty of low expectations. We need to teach our young people to read. Lawndale Christian Legal Center and Redwood Literacy are ready to do that work. We have the staff, the expertise, and the commitment. The only thing missing is the funding. 

There are generous people out there who are passionate about literacy, who understand that illiteracy fosters violence, and who want to share their resources to improve the lives of young people (the surest way to improve the world). We want to meet those people. Are you one of them? Give us a call (773-309-4524). 

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