Overview

The Reading Connection is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to bringing books and a lifelong love of reading to children in housing crisis. Our goals are to:

  • Expose children to books and encourage them to spend more time reading.
  • Provide children with free books to keep.
  • Increase language input during critical stages of literacy development.
  • Encourage parents and children to value independent home reading.

    • The heart of The Reading Connection (TRC) is our weekly shelter Read-Aloud program. Children and volunteers read old favorites, try out new stories, and talk about what they've read together. At the end of each Read-Aloud, kids choose new books to keep so they can start building personal libraries and see themselves as readers and achievers.

    The Reading Connection reaches over 2,500 children a year throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Our partners represent a mix of homeless shelters, transitional housing centers, domestic violence safehouses, and family service providers.