HomeMy Public PortalAboutapril19literacygrantTo: Trustees of the Watertown Free Public Library
From: Friends of Project Literacy ("Friends")
Date: March 29, 2019
Re: Pending Proposal to Watertown Community Foundation (WCF)
Please find attached the Friends of Project Literacy's 2018 Institutional Grant Application to
Watertown Community Foundation for Critical Service Extensions to Beginner and Intermediate
Students. The Friends plan to propose a renewal of this grant for the 2019 cycle.
The Friends are submitting the 2018 funded proposal for review, because WCF has not yet
released the Request For Proposals (RFP) for 2019. The attached text will be updated with
technical details such as current data about the student population. We do not anticipate any
significant changes to the proposal unless the RFP includes changes to eligibility requirements,
funding categories, or other factors that would dictate a different approach to our proposal.
Thank you for your consideration, and please contact the Friends if you have questions or need
more information.
ATT: Friends of Project Literacy's 2018 Institutional Grant Application to Watertown Community
Foundation for Critical Service Extensions to Beginner and Intermediate Students
Watertown Community Foundation
2018 Institutional Support Grants Application
Project Summary:
Name of proposed program or project:
Critical service extensions for beginner- and intermediate -level students
Amount requested:
$4.852
One -sentence summary of your proposal:
We propose critical service extensions to provide a full year Saturday class for our beginner students
who have week -day commitments, and summer beginner and intermediate classes for parents of
children in the Watertown schools.
Contact information:
Name of sponsoring organization: Friends of Project Literacy
Organizational address:
Address: 123 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472
Website (if applicable): www.watertownlib.org/projectliteracy
Sponsoring organization is a nonprofit organization
Tax Exempt ID Number: 04-3275208
Primary contact person: Laurie Garden
Primary contact's title: President, Friends of Project Literacy
Telephone number(s): 617-510-1538
Email address: I.garden@comcast.net
Secondary contact person: Philippa Biggers
Secondary's contact's title: Director, Project Literacy
Telephone number(s): 617-924-8797
Email address: pbiggers@watertown-ma.gov
Please list officers and Board members for your organization:
Board, Friends of Project Literacy
Officers
President: Laurie Garden, Arlington; volunteer tutor; integration analyst, former college teacher
VP and Clerk: Emily Avery -Miller, Watertown; volunteer tutor; Assistant Teaching Professor,
Department of English, Northeastern University
Treasurer: Karol Zolud, Malden; former student; business owner, independent contractor
Other Board Members
Lauren Harrison, Belmont; ELL teacher at Lowell Elementary, Watertown Public Schools
Nelly Luna, Houston, Texas; former student; volunteer tutor; Spanish instructor
Karen Roubicek, Watertown; volunteer tutor; Manager, Marketing Events at Liberty Mutual Group
1) In one or two sentences, what is the mission of your organization?
The mission of the Friends of Project Literacy is to provide financial and advisory support for Project
Literacy.
Project Literacy's mission is to assist adult basic education learners, both Speakers of Other Languages
and English speakers, by providing educational services that help adult learners find their place within
the community, to be seen and heard and to belong. We provide opportunities for adults to improve
their English language skills for employment, parenting, and preparation for higher education or self
improvement. All our students have a desire to better their lives.
Our goal is to help learners:
• function independently in the community
• take responsibility for lifelong learning
• communicate in English well enough to understand others and be understood
• read with comprehension
• advocate effectively for their families and themselves
• access library resources
• utilize information and communications technology
• participate in recreational, civic and cultural activities
We create a network in which adult learners (more than 520), volunteer tutors (189), and teachers (13)
share their knowledge.
2) If your organization does not serve everyone in Watertown, what Watertown sub -population do you
serve?
Project Literacy primarily serves immigrants who need to improve their English language skills in order
to be able to better communicate with employers, with their children's schools so that they can better
advocate for and help their children, with their healthcare providers so they can advocate for
themselves and their families, with their neighbors and other community members so that they can
more fully integrate into the Watertown community. Some are eager to become U.S. citizens and need
English to pass the citizenship test. Watertown has historically welcomed immigrants from all over the
world and Watertown's population of recent immigrants is substantial. The need for our services is
evident in the nearly 350 inquiries we received last year about our classes and tutoring. Our currently
enrolled learners come from 63 countries and represent a wide range of education levels, from those
who have advanced professional or academic degrees in their countries of origin to those who never
learned to read or write in their first language.
3) What is your organization's annual reach (in #s of people or households) through all the programs and
services you provide?
This year we are serving more than 520 learners. 221 are enrolled in 11 English classes at six levels that
are taught by paid professional teachers. 217 are matched with trained volunteer tutors and meet 1.5
hours/week on average with their tutors. 125 learners meet once or twice a week in classes taught by
volunteer teachers. We also hold a year round, weekly conversation class, "Let's Talk!", for which
registration is not required, but which typically draws 20 students each week. In October and again in
June, 15-20 people enroll in our citizenship classes.
4) What is your operating budget for the current fiscal year?
$184, 631 (FY19)
5) What will be the impact of this grant on your organization's operations? (Please be specific so we
can understand the value of this grant to your organization's ability to achieve your mission.)
This grant would enable us to extend critical services to two groups. Opening more spaces and another
course time option for beginners allows us to better serve one of the most vulnerable segments of our
target population, whether they are new arrivals, recently learned about Project Literacy or have just
decided to take the first steps of seeking more help with their English proficiency. Offering support and
instruction at this stage can be crucial to welcoming these learners into our community and giving them
skills and confidence for basic communication where they live and work. The Saturday class increases
our beginner seats and extends service to those whose caregiving or work responsibilities make it
difficult or impossible to attend evening or weekday classes. The second group we are focused on
extending service to is parents and caregivers of children in the Watertown Public Schools at both the
beginner and intermediate English language learner levels. More than 40% of the learners we already
serve are parents of children under 18, but introductory summer classes offer another and critical
opportunity to engage new learners with Project Literacy and the Schools.
We are focusing our request for FY19 on two beginner and one intermediate level critical service
extensions:
• 100% funding for our full year Saturday Beginner 2 class
• 50% funding for our summer Beginner class for parents and caregivers with children in the
Watertown public schools
• 50% funding for our summer Intermediate class for parents and caregivers with children in the
Watertown public schools
Watertown Community Foundation funded the Saturday class for the 32 week academic year for FY18.
We are requesting funding for 48 weeks for the full year for FY19, increasing funding from $2568 to
$3852.
Watertown Public Schools has allocated $1000 again this year in Title 3 monies for parent engagement
to Project Literacy to help fund these two summer parent classes. Last year Watertown Community
Foundation contributed the balance of $336.50 to co -fund the summer Beginner parent class. This year
we are increasing the intensity of the two classes by 1 hour per week, from 3 to 4 direct instructional
hours, and extending the classes by 1 week, from 5 to 6 weeks. We are requesting the balance of $1000
of the $2000 total required for the two summer classes from WCF.
6) List the name or type of each grant and dollar amount you received from WCF each year.
Briefly explain what impact the most recent grant you received from WCF had on your organization.
2017 (FY18) Institutional Support Grant $4,500
2016 (FY17) Institutional Support Grant $5,000
2015 (FY16) Institutional Support Grant $5,000
2014 (FY15) Institutional Support Grant $5.000
2013 (FY14) Institutional Support Grant $5,000
Watertown Community Foundation's support in FY18 has enabled Project Literacy to extend critical
services offered to beginners and to upper -level English language learners while maintaining our core
programming of morning and evening classes for adult English language learners, tutor training and
support, and overall outreach and assistance to those receiving or seeking our services. Even as we
engage more learners than ever before, we continue to focus on the high quality of our teaching and
training.
Additional services for beginners enabled us (1) to provide a class in a new time slot and address the
needs of more of the most vulnerable learners on our waiting list, and help them begin their process of
integration into the community, and (2) to offer a class to engage new English language learners who
are parents of children in the Watertown Public Schools with both the Project Literacy and the schools,
and strengthen our partnership with the schools. The extensions of our services to our upper -level
students provided classes that (3) gave them powerful tools to navigate the job search and understand
workplace culture, and (4) helped them build their computer literacy.
7) Is there anything else WCF should know about your organization or the importance of this grant to
you.
WCF Institutional Support funding is significant to our program. Project Literacy does not receive state
or federal funding for adult education, beyond the $1,000 in Title 3 funding allocated to Project Literacy
by the Watertown Public Schools, so the support we receive from the local community is vital.
Consistent with the library's identity as an institution that is both public and free, it is critical that we
offer our adult learners all of our services free of charge. With a grant this year from the Watertown
Community Foundation, we will be able to continue to do so and at the same time reach out to as many
who need our help as possible and maintain the high quality of our programs.
8) How will you acknowledge the funding provided by the Watertown Community Foundation?
Website Announcement, Social Media Posting
Other (Newsletters)