Family Literacy


Our Family Literacy Program is a community partnership that helps break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by integrating early childhood education, home visiting, parent/child interactive literacy activities, adult education, and parenting education into a unified family literacy program. Our programs help children and families achieve academic and social success by enriching language development, extend learning, and supporting high levels of educational success for children and their parents. Through parental involvement, parents learn to be their child’s teacher and advocate. Our programs are based on scientifically-based research and integrated so children and parents learn together to develop habits of life-long learning. Families can participate in the program from the birth of the child until age 7 which provides the opportunity for sustainable change and progress to occur within the family.

The Even Start Family Literacy Program is a community partnerships that help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by integrating early childhood education, adult literacy or adult basic education, and parenting education into a unified family literacy program. Even Start is implemented nationally through cooperative projects that build on high-quality existing community resources, creating a new range of services for children, families and adults. Programs help children and families achieve the academic standards set forth by the States and use instructional programs that are based on scientifically- based reading research to

  • enrich language development, extend learning, and support high levels of educational success for children birth to age seven and their parents;
  • provide literacy services of sufficient hours and duration to make sustainable changes in a family;
  • provide integrated instructional services for families, where children and their parents learn together to develop habits of life-long learning; and
  • support families committed to education and to economic independence.

The program at the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center is offered to families who show a high level of commitment to participating in the four areas of Even Start. Families often put in over 20 hours per week into their goals they have set with their Even Start Home Visitor.

For more information about the Family Literacy Programs at Walnut Avenue Women’s  Center or to see how you can help please contact our office 831.426.3062/