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Read Muskegon to relocate to Downtown Muskegon Heights

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Read Muskegon to relocate to Downtown Muskegon Heights

In partnership with the City of Muskegon Heights Downtown Development Authority, local non-profit organization Read Muskegon will open a Family Literacy Center at 26 East Broadway in the spring of 2017.  The center will act as a countywide hub for literacy with a focus on providing programming for low-literacy adults and their 0-5 year-old children.

Read Muskegon will be the first organization to partner with the Downtown Development Authority to invigorate commercial corridors in Muskegon Heights. As Read Muskegon brings its programs and administrative offices to the new site, it also brings its volunteers and partners, allowing them to see firsthand the opportunities that exist in the City.

According to Melissa Moore, President of Read Muskegon, “Opening a literacy center that is accessible to many of our learners with the most critical needs has been at the core of Read Muskegon’s long-term planning.  We are excited about all of the opportunities that relocating to the heart of the Muskegon Heights downtown will bring with it.”

The menu of services offered at the Literacy Center will include:

  • 1-1 tutoring
  • Small group classes focused on improving functional literacy, job readiness and instruction for parents on how to engage in early literacy development with their children
  • English as a Second Language small group class focused on job readiness, functional literacy and developing early literacy in children
  • Literacy based Play & Learn groups for low-literacy parents and 0-5 year-olds
  • Literacy based ABC’s of Cooking, a six-week parent and child healthy cooking workshop for low-literacy parents and 0-5 year-olds
  • Drop-in Literacy Lab tutoring
  • Family Reading Corner open 5 days a week

Additionally, Read Muskegon will offer community-based Family Literacy activities and book distribution at the Height’s Farmer’s Market, family movie nights, and other community events.

“The DDA Board has been extremely proactive in assisting the City with our economic development efforts, and will play a key role moving forward as we work to establish viability and diversity in our offerings downtown. We at the City of Muskegon Heights are thrilled to see Read Muskegon making an investment in our downtown, and are confident they will make a great impact in our community,” said City Manager Jake Eckholm.

One in six adults in the United States is functionally illiterate, reading at or below the 4th grade level.  In Muskegon County, that translates to more than 21,000 adults.  The adverse effects of illiteracy are felt in our economic, education, criminal justice, and health care systems.  Read Muskegon is focused on breaking the generational cycle of illiteracy by providing customized programs that meet the unique needs of their learners.

Contact:

Melissa Moore

231-830-5539

melissa.moore@readmuskegon.org

 

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7th Annual Scrabble FUNdraiser ~ March 5th

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Join Us For The

7th Annual

scrabble logo

Saturday, March 5th, 6-9 pm

Watermark 920

 

scrabble fundraiser 3  scrabble wonks
scrabble fundraiser 2  scrabble best costume winner

 

Gather up your favorite Words With Friends addicts or your wordy co-workers
for an evening of friendly competition and a little bit of healthy local rivalry
all in support of Read Muskegon’s mission of creating
a more literate Muskegon County.
$100 registration fee for teams of 2-4 players.  
Includes a light dinner.
Cash bar ~ Raffle
Prizes for high and low score, highest single word score
and most creative team name/costumes

6:00 Check-in, Food & Drinks
7:00 Games Begin
Register online at www.readmuskegon.org

For more information please contact Louise at 231-769-5985 or louise.schaallema@readmuskegon.org

2016 Tutor Training Dates

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Read Muskegon relies on volunteers to provide the majority of our services.   From 1-1 tutoring, to providing support in one of our classes, to helping at a family literacy event, there are a variety of ways you can make a difference.  You don’t need to be a teacher to volunteer, just a desire to help someone change their life through the gift of improved literacy.  We provide extensive training and ongoing support to all of our volunteers.

 

For more information, contact Sarah Klassen at 231-766-5040.

 

2016 Training Dates:

January 26 & 27

March 22 & 23

May 24 & 25

July 26 & 27

October 25 & 26

November 8 &9

 

All trainings are from 5:45 – 9:00 pm and are held at the Central United Methodist Church, 1011 2nd St., Muskegon.

An orientation is required prior to the training to provide you with a better understanding of our mission and the various volunteer opportunities.

The Gift of Literacy – Part 2

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In mid-December, we hosted our 2nd Annual Holiday Literacy Village for families involved in Read Muskegon programs, enrolled in local Head Starts or participating in other parent support programs. Parents and children made their way through nine stations, each focused on fun ways to build early literacy skills. Before heading home, each child was able to select several books to keep and each parent was provided with a literacy resource bag. Thank you to all of those who helped make this event possible including our many individual donors. And a big thanks to the Whitehall High School NHS students who got up bright and early on a Saturday morning to volunteer! The gift of literacy is one that will last a lifetime.

 

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IMG_1475                 IMG_1484

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Read Muskegon is Moving!

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We are excited to announce that we will be moving our offices over the next few weeks.  We have enjoyed the last several years working out of the Muskegon Area District Library offices on Airline Road and are thankful for their partnership, but our long-term goal has always been to move to downtown Muskegon so that we would be more accessible to our learners.

Our new office will be located in the heart of downtown, at Central United Methodist Church, 1011 2nd Street.  The church is also the home of Kid’s Food Basket.

office 1      office 2

Over the next several weeks, we will still be providing services but our office space will be closed while we paint, move and reorganize.  If you need to check out or return resources during that time, please contact Sarah at 766-5040 and she will arrange to meet you.  Our phone numbers and mailing address will remain the same.

We’ll have an open house at our new space early in 2016.  Hope to see you all there!

It’s Pumpkin Time at EXIT!

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The October Family Literacy Dinner at EXIT was all about Halloween!  The EXIT participants were able to decorate pumpkins with their families which was the highlight of the night.  Special thanks to our friends at the Harbor Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Muskegon for providing a delicious dinner and to Todd Greiner Farms of Hart for donating the beautiful pumpkins.

 

A pumpkin                    boy and pumpkin 2

boy and pumpkin                               tiny girl

boy in lap 2

boy with dinner                            dad and baby 2

dad and daughter smile                    daughter face

family holding hands                  family pumpkin

boy in lap decorating    grandson 2

grandson                   little boy decorate

paul and family             Reading the story

 

                                                                  small boy decorating                  

 

Read Muskegon’s 10th Anniversary Celebration: A Decade in the Books

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    Thanks to We Take Photographs for capturing our celebration, to Shelley Irwin for acting as our emcee, and to Hampton Green Farm and the Van Kampen, Boyer, Molinari Foundation for hosting our event and making sure over 95% of the funds raised during the evening will go directly to our programming.

 

Join us May 15th for “A Conversation with Read Muksegon”

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Are you interested in understanding more about the issue of adult illiteracy and what Read Muskegon is doing to address it?

Are you passionate about literacy and want to know how you can participate in creating change?

Do you have ideas that you would like to share about how we could better serve our community?

Would you like to help us educate others about the issue?

Every other month, Read Muskegon hosts an informal breakfast conversation to raise awareness, build stronger partnerships, increase our volunteer pool, and get people talking. We meet from 8-9 a.m. at the Coastline Deli, Terrace Plaza, Muskegon.

Our next conversation is Friday, May 15th.

If you, or someone you know, would like to join us please RSVP to louise.schaallema@readmuskegon.org.                or 231-769-5985