YOUTH OPPORTUNITY
We're Focused on Improving Childhood Literacy in Rockford and Winnebago County
If children are the future, their now matters.
Literacy is key. At United Way Rock River Valley, Youth Opportunity means helping children build the reading skills they need early, so they can succeed in school and in life.
Through our United for Literacy initiative, we are focused on one critical goal: making sure more children in Rockford and Winnebago County enter school ready to read, learn, and thrive.
Taking a stand in early childhood literacy
United for Literacy is our community-wide effort to address the early literacy crisis in Winnebago County.
We work with the people who matter most in a child's life, from families and caregivers to schools and community agencies, to connect young children with the support they need to develop strong reading skills. Because when children learn to read early, everything that follows becomes possible.
Why early reading matters
When United for Literacy launched in 2023, less than 1 in 3 Winnebago County third grade students were assessed to have reading scores that met expectations. In 2025, only 36.75% of third-grade students in Winnebago County were assessed as reading at a proficient level.
By fourth grade, school instruction shifts from learning to read to reading to learn. Kids are required to read to learn history, word problems in math, and more.
Children who fall behind before this point face a much higher risk of:
- Academic failure
- High school dropout
- Poverty and unemployment later in life
This is not a school problem alone. It is a community problem, and one we can change.
Our BOLD GOAL is for 75% of third-graders to be reading at grade level or above by 2034.
How we are working to achieve this goal
THE UNITED FOR LITERACY APPROACH
We focus on three groups in Winnebago County to help children succeed: children, parents and caregivers, and the community.
Early learning builds the foundation for a child's future. It supports how children think, learn, and communicate. During the first five years of life, a child's brain develops rapidly. This is when children learn language, build social skills, and begin to understand the world around them.
When children are read to early and often, they develop stronger vocabulary, listening skills, and confidence. These skills help children enter school ready to learn and stay on track as they grow. Children who have strong early reading experiences are more likely to succeed in school and in life.
Programs like United for Literacy support families and communities during these critical years. By investing early, we can help ensure every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Programs for Children
Total Investment 2024-25: $447,809
- Reach Out and Read in all health systems
- Read-alouds and independent reading
- Literacy support in daycares and schools
- Community Story Times
- Comprehensive book distribution
- Tiny Turners (ages -3)
- Page Turners (early childhood)
- Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Programs for Caregivers
Total Investment 2024-25: $123,000
- Family Literacy Nights
- Engagement materials and instruction
- Training and outreach
Programs for Community
Total Investment 2024-25: $53,500
- Training and Professional Development
- Advocacy
- Public awareness messaging
- Additional book distribution
Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read is a national pediatric literacy program brought to Winnebago County by United Way Rock River Valley and local health partners. It integrates literacy into well-child visits, providing young learners with books and coaching on reading aloud during routine healthcare appointments.
The program supports families with children from birth through age five by giving age-appropriate books and encouraging daily shared reading routines — helping children build language, early literacy skills, and stronger home learning environments.
United Way partners with healthcare systems and secured key funding so more children will receive literacy support where they already go for care, ensuring that reading is part of every well visit.
January 2026 Update: Reach Out & Read is now available at all Crusader Health Clinics.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a free book-gifting program that mails high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to children from birth until age five. United Way Rock River Valley funds this program locally so families can build a home library and foster a love of
2025-2026
By the Numbers
175,474
Books Delivered in Winnebago County
$308,433
In Literacy Grants to 20 Partner Agencies
Funded Partners
With such a bold goal, there is no way one organization could make that kind of progress alone. To change something as complex as literacy, you need all hands on deck!
Proposal Process
Each fiscal year we request proposals from local agencies. In these proposals, they explain their connection to literacy and what kind of project they would like to work on for the year. United Way reviews these ideas with a committee of experts and provides funding via grants to the strongest proposals with the greatest potential impact for the community.
Agencies can apply for funding again every year, but previous participation does not guarantee future approval. Every proposal is fairly evaluated by the committee to ensure our donors' dollars go towards the most effective programs possible.
2026-27 Partners & Projects
Service Grants
- Alignment Rockford — Pilot program delivering prenatal literacy kits to women in their third trimester, including books and early learning resources — the organization's first program serving families before birth. Also funds books for Ready to Learn Spaces.
- Boys & Girls Club of Rockford — Summer tutoring program at the Stenstrom and Blackhawk units; also funds books for family literacy nights and unit libraries.
- Brightpoint — Supports a literacy coordinator within the Crisis Nursery and literacy events across Brightpoint programming.
- Easterseals — Literacy-focused group connections including read-alouds, literacy integration into home visiting, and a parent-child STEM literacy night.
- Harlem School District
- Preschool for All: Funds a part-time Family Literacy Support Specialist, a family lending library, family literacy events, "Class in Session" classroom visits for parents, and literacy support at Parker Early Childhood Center.
- Prevention Initiative: Resources for home visits, group encounters, and a lending library for families.
- Patriots Gateway Community Center — "Project Author," a program for summer campers to write and illustrate an original fiction book, supported by literacy-trained camp staff.
- Regional Office of Education — Second-year cohort funding for LETRS (Science of Reading) training for educators.
- Rockford Public Library — Transitioning storytime programming into a mobile, neighborhood-based outreach model, in partnership with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and Music Academy, bringing literacy interventions directly to underserved zip codes.
- Rockford Public Schools (RPS 205) — Prevention Initiative program supporting fathers in positive engagement with their children, including interactive read-alouds and the annual Dad's Play Day.
- Rockford University — High-dosage summer literacy tutoring for students at Constance Lane Elementary and the Northwest Community Center.
- YMCA of Rock River Valley — Funds after-school literacy staff to deliver instruction to after-school care participants.
- YWCA of Northwestern Illinois — Literacy kits for home childcare providers and monthly interactive read-alouds modeling best practices at 10 childcare sites. Also facilitating one-time training, and literacy kit disbursement to 238 childcare facilities and 83 license exempt home childcare sites.
Book Distribution Grants
- Brooke Road Community Center — Weekly and quarterly literacy programming that provides books to participants.
- Durand Charm — Supports the summer reading program, back-to-school events, a community-wide reading night, and an art-focused One Book, One School initiative.
- Harlem Community Center — Expands literacy initiatives including read-alouds, builds a library at the center, and builds home libraries for children who attend.
- Junior League of Rockford — Books and materials for community read-alouds, plus books for a book vending machine at Good Shepherd.
- Severson Dells — Book giveaways supporting Readings at the Rookery and Science Saturday, plus a "Tiny Turtles" free library stocked with books and magazines.
- South Beloit School District — Supports United for Literacy month, promoting individual and group reading with family activities and reading incentives.
- Trinity Day Care — Books and materials for monthly family literacy nights, plus a book of their choosing for each child on their birthday.