Toronto Community Foundation Awards a Vital Ideas Grant to Literature for Life, Helping to Take its Community Leadership to the Next Level

TORONTO, CANADA, June 22, 2013 (Press-News.org) Literature for Life is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the Vital Ideas grant from the Toronto Community Foundation. Through the grant program, Literature for Life has been provided $30,000 over one year to increase its capacity in order to expand its reach, share its experience, and better sustain its impact.

Vital Ideas is one of three Toronto Community Foundation grant programs made possible through its Vital Toronto Fund, a strategic community endowment. The grant program identifies high-impact organizations that build on successful methods of service delivery and continually adapt and innovate.

We are extremely proud to be recognized by the Toronto Community Foundation and awarded this prestigious grant. Literature for Life will use this funding to build its capacity to deliver our Women with Words Reading Circles so that more young mothers have the essential literacy skills they need to support themselves and their childrens education,said Jo Atilia, Founder of Literature for Life.

Our support of Literature for Life is the first step in a very important journey to wider community impact,said Toronto Community Foundations President & CEO Rahul K. Bhardwaj. We are pleased to support their effectiveness so they can continue to thrive, build on their great work to date and build a stronger Toronto.

A vital idea is a program or project that is currently in operation and has a solid track record of success in making Toronto a better place to live, work, learn and grow. The Vital Ideas grant stream is unique in that it provides grants for strategic activities beyond direct programming. The investment in these strategic activities is meant to be a one-time investment in building the capacity of not-for-profits.

Literature for Life
Since 2000, Literature for Life has been unleashing the intellectual potential of marginalized young moms across the GTA. Through our flagship Women with Words Reading Circles, at-risk pregnant and parenting teens meet weekly to read and discuss novels with trained facilitators. The Reading Circles improve participants literacy and self-confidence, and encourage the pursuit of higher education and meaningful employment. The programs also work to support the role of a mother as a childs first teacher, and show participants how to create a love of reading and learning in the home.

Literature for Life operates an inclusive community, engaging our clients in taking control of their own identities as women, mothers, and community members. Over 2000 young moms have now taken part in Literature for Lifes Reading Circles, and over 20,000 books have been distributed.

To learn more about our work please visit: http://www.literatureforlife.org

Toronto Community Foundation
With more than 340 endowment funds and assets under administration of more than $250 million, the Toronto Community Foundation is one of Canada s largest public charitable foundations. Our mission is to connect philanthropy to community needs and opportunities, all with a vision to make Toronto the best place to live, work, learn and grow, through the power of giving.

Contacts

Stephanie Fasulo
Media Relations, Literature for Life
media@literatureforlife.org
416-203-9830

Simone Dalton
Manager, Media Relations & Communications
Toronto Community Foundation
sdalton@tcf.ca
416-921-2035 ext. 218

Literature for Life unleashes intellectual potential. We are committed to supporting the role of mother as her childs first teacher by facilitating our one-of-a-kind reading circle program to marginalized women throughout Torontos priority neighbourhoods. Our trained facilitators choose books with stories and characters that are relevant and meaningful to the young mothers who will read them. Through reading and sharing stories, these mothers develop skills in literacy, empathy and decision-making, and they pass these skills on to their children. Our programs serve the needs of two generations for the price of one.