Mission Statement
Hollygrove is a child-centered, family-focused community organization serving abused and neglected children and those at risk of abuse. Based on a philosophy of character-building values, we help children and families to heal and develop emotionally, physically, intellectually and ethically. Our goal is for children to be part of safe, healthy and permanent families and to become contributing members of society.
Description
On average, the children served by Hollygrove through the Learning for Life literacy program are severely neglected and abused children and those at-risk of abuse between the ages of 6 and 18 who are two to three grade levels behind their peers. A high percentage of children come from socio-economically disadvantaged families. They attend schools located throughout Los Angeles County. However, the education system is failing them badly because of a dire lack of resources.
Government funding is extremely limited for this type of educational component, so Hollygrove will continue to raise funds from private sources to maintain and expand the literacy program.
The goals of Hollygrove's Learning for Life literacy program are:
- to improve each child's reading, writing, math and critical thinking abilities through rigorous assessment and a personal education goal plan. Individual or small group tutoring will be offered, depending upon the individual needs of each child.
- to build healthy, secure families through education. We actively strive to keep families together (family preservation) or to reunite families that have been split up.
- to treat all life domains of the child, not just one component.
In the short-term it is our intention to bring each child up to speed academically so they are no longer failing or getting left behind in the classroom. We aim to instill in them a sense of confidence in terms of their academic ability and potential.
The long-term change we are working towards is building healthy, secure families through education. Each child will have a personalized educational goal plan which will include input from the child him/herself and his/her family. Depending on each child's academic growth rate and specific goals, some children will require a tutor for a few weeks while others will need assistance for several months.
Tutoring will be either one-to-one or in small groups for one hour twice a week. Lessons will either take place in the child's own home, at his/her school, a local library, community center or at Hollygrove's campus, depending upon their needs. Transportation will be provided, if required, to/from lessons.
Government funding is not available for this type of educational component, so Hollygrove will continue to raise funds from private sources to maintain and expand the literacy program.
