Seeds of Literacy Receives $5,000 Grant from the CareSource Foundation

Seeds of Literacy was awarded a $5,000 grant from the CareSource Foundation, which will be used to aid and potentially expand Seeds of Literacy’s programing for its students.

The grant was awarded Nov. 14 to Seeds of Literacy and its President and CEO, Bonnie Entler, and will be used to enrich Seeds of Literacy’s unique one-to-one tutoring model which provides personalized attention and support for maximized learning for adults.

Seeds of Literacy’s adult education program provides an individualized digital literacy curriculum and offers a flexible class schedule and year-round, open enrollment for adults in Cleveland. Seeds serves students in two Cleveland locations: Seeds West, at the intersection of W. 25th Street and Clark Avenue, and Seeds East, located at Kinsman Road and E. 139th Street. Recently, Seeds expanded its services to include offering its tutoring program in Spanish to better serve the large Hispanic population in Cleveland, as well as an early reader program to provide tutoring to students below an eighth grade reading level, most of who would not be accepted at traditional GED classes.

“Seeds of Literacy’s personalized instruction model, offering one-to-one tutoring free of charge to those we serve, empowers our students to achieve their learning goals when other programs might have failed them,” said Bonnie Entler, president and CEO of Seeds of Literacy. “Nearly 66% of adults in Cleveland are considered functionally illiterate, making everyday tasks such as understanding a bus route, reading the instructions on a medicine label or applying for a job online challenging, if not impossible. This generous grant from the CareSource Foundation will allow Seeds to continue to provide the exemplary programming our students have come to expect and rely upon while expanding our efforts in other areas, such as our GED tutoring in Spanish. Seeds of Literacy will continue to work to change the literacy rates in Cleveland, one student at a time.”

The CareSource Foundation works to strengthen the network of critical nonprofit organizations in our communities through strategic grantmaking. Since launching in 2006, the foundation has awarded more than 1,300 grants and invested more than $17 million into nonprofits throughout Ohio who are working to eliminate poverty, build healthier communities and develop innovative approaches to address significant social issues.

The CareSource Foundation provides grants to nonprofits who are working to eliminate poverty, provide services to low and moderate-income families, build healthier communities and develop innovative approaches to address significant social issues.

“Health care is only one component in the complex lives of our consumers and community,” said Cathy Ponitz, vice president of the CareSource Foundation. “The CareSource Foundation enables us to transcend standard health care and reach into our local communities to better understand and solve social issues. Our grantees have become outstanding partners in our work to eradicate poverty and create healthier families and communities.”