|
|
 |
THANK YOU
Thank you so much for your patience as Read 2 Me™ struggles with the current financial situation. We are so grateful for your support during this time.
Our Board has made the decision to ‘right size’ our operations in order to be able to hold onto the heart of our program. We will be closing some of our school sites, while we continue to maintain a condensed version of Read 2 Me™, in the hopes of finding a strategic partner to join us in furthering the fight for literacy in Pierce County.
We are sorry to announce thirteen of our programs will not re-open in March. Please know this was a heartrending decision for our Board; they understand the loss for the children, and are doing everything in their power to keep Read 2 Me™ alive.
We will be starting up our program in three Tacoma schools beginning the week of March 16th. At the current time, the Board feels these three sites take us to the limit of our funding capacity, yet still allow us to make positive changes in the lives of almost 300 children in the Tacoma School District.
If there is a bright spot in this sad notice, it is the opportunity the future holds. We are working on a partnership with a national non-profit, and in this partnership we hope to continue bringing a school based literacy program to children in our community. We are in the initial stage of this prospect, but we want you to know we are working as quickly as possible to ensure the children in our community continue to have the opportunity to read and succeed.
On behalf of the Board and the staff of Read 2 Me, thank you for your service to this worthy cause. Please know that children’s lives were changed for the better because you took the time to help them learn to read. We appreciate your time, and your talent.
Read 2 Me
THANK YOU TUTORS
The Read 2 Me™ Board and Staff would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our almost 700 tutors for their commitment to the children of Pierce County! Your dedication to these children helped them learn to read, and gave them the one-on-one mentorship they crave.
If your Read 2 Me™ program was closed due to budgeting issues, and you would like to continue working as a volunteer, please call our office at (253) 272-7861 for the session schedules in our three remaining sites, and other mentoring opportunities.
Thank you again for all you have done. Your commitment has been the back bone of this program for 21 years, and Read 2 Me™ would not stand if it weren’t for each of you. You give the forgotten voices of these children a chance to be heard. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of a child.
THANK YOU DONORS
The Board and staff of Read 2 Me™ are grateful for the community support we have received during our current financial struggle. We are a small non-profit, and because we are without an endowment fun, when times are tough, we find ourselves with nothing to fall back on. During the past two months, Read 2 Me™ teetered on the brink of closure, hoping against hope for a miracle to bring us off the precipice.
And thanks to our community, we will survive. As with any crisis, we have not come away unscathed. We are different, but we are stronger. We are learning from this difficult time, and we will fight to establish the strategic partnerships which are critical for survival during these unprecedented economic times. Your donations have given us the foundation we need to keep the core of the program alive as we look towards the future for growth and sustainability. Thank you for giving of yourselves so Read 2 Me™ can continue to give the gift of literacy to the children of our community. Stay tuned to hear about our future growth as we continue to fulfill our vision of creating a literate world.
|
|
|
|
|
INFORMATION AND FAQ’S
Read 2 Me™ FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions)
Why can’t volunteers act as coordinators?
Each of the Read 2 Me™ coordinators have been fingerprinted and have had background checks to be allowed alone with the children while transporting from classrooms. Each coordinator has received dozens of hours of instruction in guiding reading and curriculum instruction by Tacoma Public School District specialists. Coordinators offer consistency to the principals, staff, and children at each site. Additionally, coordinators continue to train the volunteer tutors throughout the school year to individualize the students Read 2 Me™ session to maximize the greatest results. Coordinators maintain extensive student tracking statistics to demonstrate the program’s success in letters and sounds, sight words, fluency, comprehension, and critical thinking.
Why can’t Tacoma Public School District run Read 2 Me™?
Read 2 Me™ is a private nonprofit 501 (c) (3) which receives funding from foundations, corporations, events, and individual giving, in addition to TPS contributions. TPSD would not be able to deliver the program because resources including time especially in this time of great economic challenge are being wholly directed to serving core subjects for the children.
Is Read 2 Me™’s overhead too high?
Read 2 Me™ has very low overhead as our program is delivered out of “in-kind” (free) space donated by Tacoma Public School District. Our 700 tutors provide us a “free” workforce---which has an IRS valuation of over $500,000 annually. However, before the tutors are placed, we spend an average of 5 hours with each one doing background checks, training, scheduling, etc. We have a small inexpensive administrative office to operate our “business” of fundraising. Our employee’s compensation is at or below county comparables. We offer no employee benefits---no medical, dental, or retirement.
Crisis seemed to hit suddenly--why?
Although gas prices began to soar in late 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2008, the banking collapses and market plunges in the last quarter set the tone for yearend giving from private individuals as well as corporations and foundation grantors. Read 2 Me™ follows traditional and prudent business best practices with both Finance and Executive committee monthly review of financials prior monthly full Board meetings. Financials are representative for month prior and cash on hand is stated. In early January, 20% of staff was laid off and all remaining staff took a significant reduction in pay. By the end of January with the concerning delay in accounts receivables along with an unprecedented amount of declines of foundation grant requests, and extremely low end of year giving, it was decided that layoffs and a program hiatus was necessary if the organization was to survive this devastating economic crisis. We are cognizant that our zero line budgeting practices (paycheck to paycheck) that have worked for the past 21 years are no longer sufficient. If reserve funds, a line of credit, and/or endowment were in place, the organization would be in a stronger position.
What are your plans for next year?
Read 2 Me™ plans to scale operations to a core 3 elementary schools (DeLong, McCarver, Wainwright) in Tacoma Public School District with classes resuming on March 16th serving an anticipated 300 children for the remainder of the year. We will resume the program in these schools with a group of part time employees. We will reevaluate our growth plan which is at odds with the prevailing funding climate while becoming viable. We will strategically restructure and “right size” the organization while simultaneously identifying a long term self sufficiency plan. Part of this long term plan is to possibly find a partner in which to merge our programming.
What happens if Read 2 Me™ scales services?
We are currently working on a scaled services model serving a core three Tacoma Public School District elementary schools: DeLong, McCarver, and Wainwright. Paralleling those services will be our continued work in the early childhood sector (birth to 5). We hope to be back at full capacity as funding and self-sufficiency increase. Although, we are cognizant that our scope of services may “look” different.
What happens if Read 2 Me dissolves?
We will do everything to bring our 21 year old program to a graceful end respecting both our students and tutors who have volunteered so much of their time, in the most caring and sensitive way possible.
Please check out our website regularly for ongoing details.
How can I help? Where to find updates?
Contributions can be mailed to:
Read 2 Me™
1944 Pacific Avenue, Ste. 306
Tacoma, WA 98402
253-272-7861
|
|
|
|
