WHAT WE DO

Creating solutions for early learning challenges

Our Approach to Global Literacy

We provide free educational resources such as books, school supplies, and tutoring to immigrant and refugee children and their families in Salt Lake City, Utah. We collaborate with public schools and national publishing entities to buy elementary books and literacy resources. Once purchased, we distribute the books to schools, refugee households, and community venues often frequented by refugee parents and children. The leaders of these institutions then distribute the resources as needed throughout the community.

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Collect Funds

We accept donations of all amounts, and they go directly to the purchase of academic resources.

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Purchase Academic Resources

We partner with Scholastic and local community leaders and educators to purchase elementary-level books and literacy resources.

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Distribute Among Refugees

We distribute resources to schools, refugee households, and community venues, frequented by refugee parents and children.

Let's Make A Change

Many children of refugees and immigrants in the United States lack the resources needed to build adequate literacy skills. By donating as little as $5, you can help bridge the equity gap.

Your donation goes directly towards purchasing literacy resources that we distribute to schools, refugee households, and community venues.

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The Problem We're Solving

A 1995 study by Hansen and Farrell showed that high school seniors who received kindergarten curriculum focused on word study, decoding skills, and reading outperformed their classmates on reading achievement, attitude towards education, grades, and attendance. Students who enter kindergarten with below grade-level literacy makeup the majority of dropouts, with less than a 12% chance of attending a four-year university. An achievement gap developed early in a child’s life will only grow larger as they age.

Helping Early

It’s socially, morally, and even financially crucial to address literacy early on. Most school districts spend $1,800 to $3,400 per child, per year, on students who need remediation. Although, this has historically been unsuccessful because most children are too far behind to ever catch up in time. Fostering essential reading and math skills from birth to age 5 costs up to 10x less than from kindergarten to 5th grade. The short-term costs of this early investment in education are more than offset by the immediate and long-term benefits.

Effect on Immigrant and Refugee Children

Access to education is a fundamental human right. Yet for many refugee and immigrant children, education remains an aspiration, and not a reality. A lack of access to reading facilities, coupled with a shortage of public funding, often denies children of immigrant and refugee households the opportunity to acquire fully developed reading skills. An inability to access early literacy materials can have adverse effects in the later stages of a child’s educational development. The Kitab Foundation is addressing one of the most effective ways to help immigrant and refugee families--preventing academic, emotional, and social difficulty with early literacy education.