YokyWorks is a non-profit organization working to improve literacy rates among students with dyslexia and other learning differences. According to a report by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 35% of fourth graders performed at or above proficient on their 2019 reading assessment. Our program turns struggling students into confident readers. In fact, 90% of YokyWorks students graduate from the program reading above grade level. We believe that literacy is a human right and our mission is to remove reading barriers and unlock the potential of every child.
If you share our desire to improve the lives of countless students, there are several ways you can help:
In May, we will be holding our inaugural read-a-thon fundraiser. During this time, many of our current and former students will be committing to reading at least fifteen minutes per day, every day for a month. These students are working to build healthy reading habits while also garnering financial support from friends and family so that more students can benefit from our program.
Read with us
If you are interested in building healthy reading habits yourself we invite you to sign up for our read-a-thon event and pledge a dollar amount for each minute you read. Better yet, increase your impact by encouraging your book-loving friends and family to sign up and pledge to support their reading habits!
Support our students
If you would prefer to demonstrate your support for the reading habits of current and former YokyWorks students in other ways, we would be happy to pair you with one or more of our student participants. During the read-a-thon, you may pledge a dollar amount for each minute a child reads or make a flat donation in support of the cause.
Your donations will benefit students in numerous ways:
Provide financial aid to our students
There are many barriers to literacy that a child must overcome, but we believe that money shouldn’t be one of them. Our financial aid program helps to subsidize the cost of our 1:1 sessions for students without the means to afford the services they need to reach their full potential. Our long-term goal is to provide our program for any student who needs it, regardless of their financial situation. While our organization is currently too small to meet this goal, we have a great financial aid program that 15% of our students are benefiting from. Our goal is to double the size of the financial aid pool by the end of the year. Your support will allow YokyWorks to bring state of the art reading instruction to more students.
Attract and retain highly-qualified instructors
While the brain is wired for language, reading is not a natural process. Our instructors undergo a rigorous training process and are provided with continuing education in order to meet the needs of their students. Your support will allow us to hire experienced educators and streamline our training program as we scale and grow.
Serve more students
During the Covid-19 pandemic, our lean team retrofitted our in-person program for online learning expanding the reach of our instruction. By the end of 2021, we hope to grow our student enrollment by 400%. Your support will provide our staff with the resources to achieve this ambitious goal.