Literacy Now provides reading readiness and reading intervention programs, interactive parent engagement, as well as trained volunteer mentors for our Lunch Bunch mentoring program - elements that contribute to children’s long-term success. Our work supports children and their families, by working in HISD and Aldine ISD schools and on community sites throughout Houston in order to bring these critical services directly to those in need. Our primary goal is to empower our students to read on grade level by the end of 3rd grade thereby making it much more likely they will remain on track to graduate from high school and be ready to pursue their postsecondary goals. Since 2006, our programs have made a significant impact on the community, impacting the lives of more than 20,000 children and parents. But there is much more we can do and need to do. We have implemented an ambitious five-year expansion plan to reach more students at the campuses we already serve and at additional high-needs schools. These plans are even more urgent now as a result of COVID-19. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on the children we serve, causing them to miss months or, in many cases, over a year of school and leaving them even further behind.