Start LightHouse

• Location : Bronx, NY
• Community Served: Underprivileged Children
• Focus: Education

Organization background

It is well documented that school shutdowns during COVID led to widespread learning loss in children. In Bronx schools, for instance, 70%-85% of students were reading below grade level. These students also do not have access to literacy-rich environments as school libraries take a hit because of budget cuts. Start Lighthouse Inc. (SLH) was founded during the pandemic to tackle this widespread learning loss in Bronx schools.

The organization runs three programs for students, teachers and their families

• Literacy Hubs - rehabilitate abandoned library spaces in public schools and establish permanent homes for programming
• Literary Adventures - in-person interactive workshops led by nationally recognized and award-winning BIPOC authors and illustrators to engage and personalize students’ relationships with books
• Home Libraries - onsite bookshop that allows children to actively engage in their own selection of books, which provides them with an array of free, inclusive, engaging, and bilingual titles to build their home libraries

Project background

Start Lighthouse serves 5,700 students across 8 Title I schools within the Bronx through the provision of their Literacy Hub program. The Literacy Hub offers interactive workshops led by resident authors and illustrators, enables students to build their own home libraries, and develops at-home reading routines by integrating families into the reading journey.

GKF contributions to SLH

• 2022,2023: Funding for running Literacy Hubs in Bronx Title I schools for students preK to grade 8.