House News

Reflecting on the last year, the reigning and recurrent theme is Thriving. When something thrives, it grows, develops and flourishes. This appropriately defines our organization as we approach 130 years of service. We take pride in our mission statement of “Transforming lives in the community,” and this is demonstrated though our dedicated staff and agency activities. Our ability to identify prevalent needs and implement programming that makes lasting effects is a testament to our closeness to our participants, our collective accountability and balanced stewardship of our resources.

In the City of Cleveland, there is a 66% adult literacy rate. Our Sisterhood Program aims to decrease this number over time by focusing on literacy throughout both school year and summer programs. Participants during the school year are engaged by reading a book that corresponds to each of the five learning cycles of curriculum. Last year, some of those included: Becoming by Michelle Obama, We Want to Do More Than Survive by Bettina Love, Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens by Richard T. Kiyosaki and excerpts from the works of Jericho Brown, and Jesmyn Ward to name a few. This is done to expand their knowledge and skills, and increase overall interest in reading. Our internal evaluations reflect thriving programming that delivers on our expectations. Additionally, given the immense need for adult literacy, WSCH is exploring the possibility of expanding services to join in the shared work with organizations that are addressing this issue.

As a long-standing service provider in the community, we want to ensure that our services reflect respect and integrity, and build upon the existing resilience of our participants from birth to eldership. We look forward to another great year sharing stories of transformation.

Yours In Service,
Rachelle