FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mothers’ Club of Pasadena Garners
National Award from the Barbara Bush Foundation

PASADENA, CALIF. – April 24, 2006. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy has announced that it has awarded ten national grants totaling $628,782 to programs that improve the literacy skills of parents and their children. One of these programs is Pasadena’s own Mothers’ Club Family Learning Center. Since the inception of the Barbara Bush Foundation in 1989, more than 500 family literacy programs in 47 states and our nation’s capital have received grants totaling almost $17 million.

"Reading aloud to children, early and often, is the single most important thing that a parent can do to help a child start school ready to learn," said Barbara Bush. "And, parents who are able to read, write, and comprehend can get better jobs, improve their families’ lives, and participate more fully in their communities as well. That's why the projects we fund must provide literacy instruction for parents as well as their children."

Ranging in size from $44,682 to $65,000, the ten winning grant applications were chosen from nearly 550 proposals, submitted by a wide variety of private non-profit and public organizations including libraries, correctional institutions, universities, housing projects, and public schools. This year's grant recipients were announced at the Foundation's twelfth annual fundraiser, A Celebration of Reading, which was held on April 20th at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston, TX. The event was hosted by George and Barbara Bush and starred authors: Tiki and Ronde Barber, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Reba McEntire, Chuck Norris, and Anita Shreve, among others.

When told of the award, Mayor Bill Bogaard commented, “Congratulations to Mother’s Club! Over the years, I have witnessed the impact of Mother’s Club on Pasadena’s families in need, and am thrilled—but not surprised—to hear that they have received national recognition for their work in family literacy and education.” At Mothers’ Club, the grant will expand the home visiting component of their family literacy program. Home visits provide individualized and customized instruction for parents in the home environment. Planned activities provide opportunities for parents to practice their language and parenting skills, and for children to increase their literacy skills. The most important aspect is that the families will begin to recognize and use teachable moments of everyday life to enhance their child’s language development and intellectual growth.

Founded in 1961, Mothers’ Club Family Learning Center prepares families living in isolation and poverty to succeed in school and in life through two-generation learning programs. Mothers’ Club services are comprised of high quality, research-based early childhood education for children ages 0-5, and a comprehensive adult program which includes parenting education, leadership training, adult literacy, vocational exploration, group counseling and social networking for the primary caretaker, most often the mother. For more information, please contact Sarah E. Orth at (626) 683-5677, or sarah@mothersclub.org. For more information about the work of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, please contact Benita Somerfield at (202) 955-6183, or visit the Foundation website at www.barbarabushfoundation.com.

@ 2006 Mothers' Club Family Learning Center
526 East Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104
Office: (626) 792-2687 Fax: (626) 793-1832