My Nonprofit Reviews

I mentor a 17 year old boy through a volunteer program where community adults can mentor young residents at Children's Village. For a variety of reasons, these kids lack positive adult role models in their lives. The young man I mentor has suffered far too much by his age, and has previously been in 12 foster homes. At Children's Village he has finally found the safety and support he needs. Safety and support are simple things many of us take for granted, but he doesn't. Now he can finally learn and grow and succeed.
Recently when we were returning from an all day off-campus outing, he said: "When I got here I never imagined I'd say this, but it feels good to be home!"

LitWord's founder Pam Allyn believes that literacy is the foundation for emotional and physical well-being, intellectual growth, and economic security and that the right to read and write is a fundamental human right and belongs to all people. LitWorld's mission is to use Education, Advocacy and Innovation to ensure this basic human right.
LitWorld creates resilience building reading and writing experiences which empower children and connect and fortify communities. These experiences take place through participation in Boys and Girls LitClubs. The children I have visited while volunteering with LitWorld in the Boys and Girls LitClubs in Harlem, in the slum of Kibera, Kenya, and in Kisumu, Kenya have all developed a close sense of community with the members of the club, a confidence in themselves, a respect for others, and a remarkable ability to articulate a personal narrative about who they are, what they believe in, and their own hopes and dreams for the future. I have seen the curriculum that every LitClub adheres to....the "Seven Strengths" that are at the core of every LitClub activity that focus on character development, development of resilience ( as many of the club participants live in extreme poverty and have suffered incredible personal trauma), and finding ones voice and story. The clubs are a safe haven where children are taught in a loving supportive atmosphere where praise is given often, which is a new experience for many of the children. Children also use technology to connect with other club members all over the world and they begin to see themselves as world citizens with something powerful to contribute.

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This has been a wonderful way for my middle school aged son to contribute his time in a manageable and meaningful way. He does the shopping every month for the family we sponsored. He especially enjoys sneaking in his favorite junk foods for the teenage boy in our sponsored family! I like the anonymity...since we don't know our sponsored family except that they are a local mother and son, and they don't know us. That feels right to me.

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