Archive for the ‘Support NHR’ Category

We participated in the Great Give 2019! Thank you for your incredible support which gave us a total of $28,780 from 186 gifts and a match from the Lewis G. Schaeneman, Jr. Foundation! These funds will help our students fight the summer slide!

Thank you for your contribution and for spreading the word!

New Haven Reads currently serves over 550 students each week in our one-on-one tutoring program, where they receive guidance and support from over 400 dedicated volunteer tutors. Students work hard throughout the school year to improve their reading skills, and their work continues during NHR’s six-week summer program. In addition to the one-on-one tutoring program, during the Summer Session students can participate in an assortment of enrichment clubs like chess, arts and crafts, math, and science!

These six weeks in the summer are important to maintain the reading levels that our students worked so hard to reach throughout the school year. Studies show that students who do not practice reading in the summer start the school year off at an average of two to three months behind their peers.1 This achievement gap widens for students from low-income households, like 87% of our students: on average, they lose 20-35% of school gains over the summer.1 The majority of our students are already reading below grade level, so without reading practice over the summer, the achievement gap continues to widen.

(1) Kuhfeld, M. PhD. (16 July 2018). Summer Learning Loss: What we know and what we’re learning. NWEA. Retrieved from https://www.nwea.org/blog/2018/summer-learning-loss-what-we-know-what-were-learning/

 

Posted in Support NHR

NHR volunteer and sustaining donor, Stephane Gerard.

Of the many ways to get involved with New Haven Reads, Stephane Girard personally participates in a good number of them.  He volunteered as a reading tutor from 2015 to 2018, and last year he joined the Spelling Bee committee. Thinking on his experience as a tutor, he said, “[The students’] motivation and personality make spending the hour with them a pleasure.”

He fondly remembered a moment when the word “entrepreneur” arose in his conversation with one student, and the questions that followed about what an entrepreneur does sustained a months long conversation that they revisited each week in their tutoring session. The student’s curiosity and drive to learn made Stephane think of his own experience as a non-native English speaker. When he was suddenly thrown into a predominantly English-speaking community, many people helped him to read in the new language so that he could do well for himself.

“With the ability to read comes a power of independence.”

His experience as a tutor led Stephane to join the ranks of NHR’s regular monthly donors, who help the organization expand and provide services to an ever-increasing number of students. In his charitable giving, Stephane seeks to promote information and education. He said that with New Haven Reads he knows his money is well invested, precisely because he has seen all the good that we actually accomplish in the lives of our students. These results help them on their way to becoming productive and independent members of society. “It’s not only a good cause, but a cause that has the means to achieve what it’s after,” he explained. “I’ve experienced it firsthand.”

Join Stephane and become a sustaining donor today!

Posted in Blog, Donor Spotlight, Support NHR

Although she now lives across the globe in China, Bonnie D. is one of NHR’s longest-running sustaining donors.  We recently asked her some questions about her experience and why she contributes.

What kind of impact do you believe that NHR has on our community and the city of New Haven?

This type of organization is so important for New Haven–it’s a safe, friendly place for children to come and develop their reading skills. The community needs more of these types of places, and they need to have sufficient resources!

Why did you choose to become a Sustaining Donor, instead of making a one-time donation?

I have heard from friends working at non-profits that while one-time donations are good, regular donations (even if not that much at a time) are much better because they allow long-term budgeting as it’s a guaranteed income source.  So, I do all my donations as monthly donations.

What impact, if any, do you feel that your gift to NHR has had on you?

As I started giving monthly to New Haven Reads, I also became inspired to start volunteering again helping children read.

If you could describe your experience with NHR in one word, what would it be?

Community.

Become a Sustaining Donor

Posted in Blog, Donor Spotlight, Support NHR

Every day, NHR’s staff and volunteers come together to create a community of skilled and confident readers. By becoming a sustaining donor and making an automatic, tax-deductible gift each month, you can support this work and our impact on hundreds of students, families, and greater New Haven community members.

You don’t have to take our word for it though! We recently surveyed some of our amazing sustaining donors, and they let us know some of their reasons for signing up to support New Haven Reads.

5. Monthly donations are an easy way to support NHR.

“I like the commitment of an automatic, monthly donation.” – NHR Sustaining Donor

When you commit to a monthly sustaining donation, your gift is automatically billed each month, and you never have to remember whether or not you donated this year, find a stamp, write a check, etc.

4. Becoming a sustaining donor means you can stay involved with NHR, even if you move away or can no longer volunteer.

“I was a volunteer for three years before donating. When work obligations prevented me from continuing to volunteer in person, I donated [monthly] and got involved in fundraising for the Spelling Bee.” – NHR Sustaining Donor

Several of NHR’s sustaining donors signed up after other commitments prevented them from continuing to volunteer, or after moving as far away as China! We love to stay connected with our former volunteers and families.

3. It’s also a great way to deepen your commitment to NHR and the local community if you’re a current volunteer or New Haven resident!

“I’ve volunteered at NHR for four years and I think it is a great organization.” – NHR Sustaining Donor 

Becoming a sustaining donor means you’re making a commitment to the local community.

NHR student and tutor

2. Sustaining donors help keep all of our programs free to the public.

Our reach goes far beyond the students and families who come to us every week for tutoring, and sometimes, our impact extends further than any of us know. Case in point: we once received a copy of a handwritten letter from a homeless person thanking us for the “hours of pleasure” they’d gotten from reading books from the Book Bank.

1. Support hard-working, deserving children in their journeys to become confident and skilled readers.

“The best childhood memories I have are the book fairs in school and being able to buy three books for 35 cents. I want children to have books. They are such a great escape.” – NHR Sustaining Donor

I mean…look at these faces.

Will you become a sustaining donor today?

Become a Sustaining Donor

Posted in Blog, Support NHR

Share the joy and power of reading by making a monthly donation to New Haven Reads!

Monthly donations provide steady, reliable support that let us provide all of our programs free of charge. Each week, New Haven Reads:

  • Provides one-on-one, individualized tutoring to over 500 students
  • Provides small-group Pre-K and Kindergarten classes for over 50 students
  • Hosts up to six field trips from local schools
  • Distributes somewhere between 1,000 and 2,500 books back into the local communities

Your Donation At Work

As little as…

  • $10/month provides healthy snacks for FOUR students
  • $25/month supports one student for the Summer Session
  • $35/month provides workbook and supplies for 17 students!
  • $45/month supports one Pre-K/Kindergarten student for the entire academic year

Thank you for joining with us to strengthen our community, one book and one child at a time.

Become a Sustaining Donor

Posted in Blog, Support NHR

Share the joy and power of reading by giving to New Haven Reads!

Support New Haven Reads with your year-end gift! Because all of our literacy programs are free of charge, your generous support is vital.

Please join us in supporting students who are motivated, engaged, and eager to succeed. The ability to read transforms lives and communities.

Thanks to the support of people like you, we provide a caring environment and a highly effective program that supports over 550 local students every week in their journeys to becoming skilled and confident readers.

Make your secure, online gift here or send a check made out to New Haven Reads to 45 Bristol Street, New Haven, CT 06511.

As a donor, you enable New Haven Reads to share the joy and power of reading with students. This year, with your support:
• 98% of our students tested improved in at least one area of reading.
• 70% of students tested improved their independent reading level an entire grade level, with 27% improving by two grade levels!
• We distributed over 117,000 books into homes and classrooms across the state.

Thank you for joining with us to strengthen our community, one child at a time.

Donate

Posted in Support NHR