With a new name and expanded clientele, Menlo Park-based Literacy Partners' vision is now helping children and adults in the broader community enhance their reading, writing and related skills and education.

The nonprofit, which up until July 2020 was called Project Read, previously solely supported the Menlo Park Library's tutoring program. It now offers grants to other organizations that promote literacy.

In 2018, the city of Menlo Park doubled its annual support to the Project Read program from $55,000 to $110,000, according to a September 2020 letter from Literacy Partners. With the increased funding, the nonprofit no longer needed to focus its sole attention on Project Read. The city funds finance the Project Read adult literacy program, but a need still existed for broader resources to support community literacy, according to the nonprofit. These include services for youth and enrichment programs for families that fall outside Project Read's focus.

Students are in great need of academic support after more than a school year of distance learning during the pandemic, said John Schniedwind, Literacy Partners board member and treasurer. These programs are also helping students sharpen skills that might have gotten rusty while learning from home.

"I think like many or even most of us, our recipients have talked about the pandemic as a moving target that complicates, and through isolation can impede, progress toward the educational goals they are continuing to try to meet," said Literacy Partners President Mike Goodkind. "When we review funding requests we try to evaluate what may be needed immediately to get folks through the pandemic, to keep education moving. But we never lose sight of the need to support programs in their efforts to look ahead to be successful beyond the pandemic."

Literacy Partners is also one of the beneficiaries of The Almanac's Holiday Fund. Because The Almanac and its partner the Silicon Valley Community Foundation cover all the administrative costs, every dollar raised goes directly to this year's 10 nonprofit organizations. Donations to the Holiday Fund can be made here.

Literacy Partners will give about $140,000 worth of committed grants to groups like Ravenswood Classroom Partners ($5,000), East Palo Alto Kids Foundation ($15,000 to support 20 teachers and over 500 students) and StreetCode Academy ($50,000) during the 2021 fiscal year. About $40,000 of its funds are set aside to revamp the library tutoring program's space.

"We want to make sure kids have excellent opportunities within the community of Silicon Valley," Goodkind said.

JobTrain, which received a $30,000 grant from Literacy Partners, helps contractors such as housekeepers or landscapers learn technology skills like digitally sending a cost quote for a project or a receipt to a client, Goodkind said. They also help businesses market themselves on social media.

By working with Literacy Partners, the recipients are also introduced to similar programs, helping them learn from each other.

In the next year, the nonprofit plans to begin offering individual scholarships and offer more grants, Goodkind said.

It's also recruiting board members and volunteers it can send to the organizations it supports.

Find more information about Literacy Partners here.