Overview

Organizing a Grassroots Woman's Platform of Strategies  for Educational and Economic Empowerment

Books for Empowerment

Operation Outreach

Family Literacy Symposium

F.L.I.G.H.T. Student Scholarship

Community and School Linkages

United in F.L.I.G.H.T

 

Overview Project F.L.I.G.H.T. is unique in that it is designed to enhance the current national family literacy model in two ways in order to address concerns raised by practitioners. Project FLIGHT is a family literacy program, established by Dr. Betty J. Cappella and Dr. Geraldine E. Bard as a pilot program in February 1994 at Buffalo State College.  Over the past seven years, Project FLIGHT has evolved from a small program to one that was presented at the NGO Forum of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women and has been recognized locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.  Through rapid development and implementation, Project FLIGHT and its initiatives have become identified as an effective strategy for caregivers and their families to combat the social byproducts associated with undereducation and illiteracy.  Project FLIGHT accomplishes its goals by assisting families through the establishment of a collaborative university/community/business partnership that is designed to develop an integrated urban response to undereducation through literacy initiatives.  Through its initiatives, Project FLIGHT has become identified as an effective strategy for children and their families to combat illiteracy and the social byproducts associated with undereducation. Project FLIGHT accomplishes the goal in three ways.  First, a collaborative university and community partnership was established to develop an integrated urban response to undereducation. This innovative relationship has been shown to create system changes that augment existing ones.  This relationship has also produced new direct services to assist educationally disadvantaged families through early childhood and adult education, early childhood education for at risk children, parent training, and the assistance with the intergenerational parent/child learning relationship.

Project FLIGHT makes use of three integrated components:

1) The Research and Consultant Team provides technical assistance for training, funding, program design, development and delivery, needs assessment, grants, evaluation, problem solving, goal setting, service delivery, advocacy and new research initiatives.  

2) The Family Literacy Resource Center contains research materials, books, pamphlets, and videos, as well as access to computer generated spin searches and information referral systems.See Attachment C for information on the Family Literacy Resource Bibliography.  

3) The Family Literacy Consortium for Buffalo and Erie County, based at Buffalo State College, consists of over 183 educational institutions, libraries, public and private volunteer organizations, social service agencies, city, county and state governments, corporations and businesses, which directly or indirectly serves educationally disadvantaged families specifically for the enhancement and/or implementation of family literacy efforts on behalf of local educationally disadvantaged families. 

Through the continuation of integration, Project FLIGHT initiates, with existing providers of family literacy services and programs, the development of a local network of service providers and the creation of a working family literacy model for the local area.  Membership in the consortium is representative of the gender, cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity of the individuals served by agencies and institutions in the area. Outcomes for the consortium have included the development of new tools for interagency planning, the promotion of better ways to serve the same population, the development of a local network of service providers, provision for new materials, the sharing of resources and outreach strategies, the reduction of agency isolation, the sharing of information which aids problem solving and goal setting, advocacy, provisions for interagency technical assistance, and the development of joint research initiatives and collaborations for funding. The consortium has established six standing committees (i. e. steering, family literacy, community issues, research, assessment and evaluation, advocacy, education and public affairs, multicultural issues), which meet regularly.              
The reciprocal benefits of this university/community collaboration are readily apparent.  For the university, it provides outreach and service opportunities, curriculum enhancement, applied research, and practice to ensure professional growth and development within the academic community.  For the community, it provides human capital and financial support, innovative methods and strategies, and specific expertise. For educationally disadvantaged caregivers, most of whom are women, and their families, it provides enhanced education, and a strengthened and supportive family unit, both of which encourage not only a child's success in school, but also economic self-sufficiency and increased self-esteem for the parent.            
The second way that Project FLIGHT addresses the issue of illiteracy has been through the establishment of family literacy programs geared specifically for school-age students. These programs are considered pivotal because at risk children, ranging in age from five to eighteen, have previously been eluded from the domain of currently existing service programs. The third unique feature of what is now being termed “The Buffalo Model,” was the blending of two service delivery systems. Project FLIGHT uses a decentralized service delivery system that provides direct services to area agencies and schools and a centralized resource system that provides aid to service providers and, in some instances, to individuals in need.            

The critical importance of this new model is four fold:

• To provide direct service where it occurs and where it is most needed.
• To promote better ways to serve the same target population more effectively through the augmentation of existing services.
• To be a major resource, provide research, new materials, methods and outreach strategies.
• To provide integrative technical assistance by sharing information that aids problem solving and goal setting for disadvantaged families.

Some specific elements that exemplify the above include the following:  

1. Book Bank: Collection and distribution of books to empower underprivileged children and families in the campaign to increase literacy in the Buffalo Area.

2. Fee-Based School and Community Based Programs: Providing a full menu of curriculum and instructional design, educational materials, and supplies, computer generated spin searches, grant writing, assessment, and evaluations, consulting, program development, training, technical assistance, networking, advocacy, and information dissemination to stimulate literacy and achievement, particularly at the 4^th and 8^th grade levels.

3. Advocacy for Literacy: The development of research initiatives that operationalize research-based knowledge, the dissemination of information worldwide through papers, seminars, and conferences.

Organizing a Grassroots Woman's Platform of Strategies for Educational and Economic Empowerment  
In collaboration with women's organizations, government, and the implementation of federal legislation recommending that Women's History be celebrated during the month of March, the New York State Coalition on Women's Issues was established in 1993 as a community initiative. It was formally chartered to the National Women's Conference Committee and Center (i.e., the NWCC is the single remaining federally-constituted citizen body since the Presidential Advisory Commission on Women was eliminated in 1981). The mission of the coalition focused on establishing family literacy as a broad based community initiative to address issues of women's undereducation and poverty levels, especially taking note that women who are single parents, most frequently live in poverty. A second initiative of the Coalition was to establish the month of March as a public vehicle during which women's issues at the grass roots level would be underscored. Special attention would be given to family literacy and issues leading to Beijing and beyond. In March 1994, in consultation with the Commission on the Status of Women in Erie County, and in conjunction with the Division for Women, Region 2 of the Women's Bureau housed in the United States Department of Labor, and the State University College at Buffalo, a community-wide response was developed based on the Women's Bureau call for regional meetings in preparation for the 4th World Conference on Women. The report was culled from representatives from over 80 Western New York women's organizations and was formally presented to Judith K. Avner of the New York State Division for Women. One of the Western New York strategies, the Western New York Strategy on Family Literacy, was accepted for presentation at the Region 5 United Nations NGO forum meeting in Vienna, Austria in October, 1994. Two strategies were accepted by the delegates of the forum for inclusion in the final document. At the March 1995 Women in History program, a report was made by the participant delegates to members of the Western New York community. In September 1995, Drs. Cappella and Bard presented a paper entitled, "Women, Education and Family Literacy: Strategies for Empowerment." at the United Nations 4th World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China. One family literacy strategy was selected for incorporation, (members of 177 nations participated). The New York State Coalition, also, presents annually, a Women's History Celebration Symposium Series, which provides over 40 major programs on Women's Issues throughout the month of March. The programs benefit thousands of women from education, business, industry and community organizations. The fifth annual (1998) Women's History Month Community Celebration is currently being organized.

Books for Empowerment       In a collaborative partnership, "Give a Book, Touch a Life" was the theme of a community wide, annual project whose goal it was to collect books in order to encourage literacy. The Buffalo News and Buffalo State College Project F.L.I.G.H.T. sponsored the News Books for Kids campaign with key support from several community groups. The other collaborative partners included the Junior League of Buffalo, Inc., the Erie County Public Libraries, and the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County. The goal of the project was to give children from impoverished homes personal access to books. The drive has been in operation for three years and has resulted in the placement of over 226,500 new books into the hands of indigent children. In addition, this drive also established close to 102 on-site lending libraries for agencies working with women and their families. Loretta M. Sauer of the Salvation Army's homeless shelter exemplifies the benefits of this program by stating: "We will put some of those books into our shelter library. In the past few months, we've been developing a family literacy project for the families we help at the shelter. The books we received will serve a two-fold purpose: some will go to the library for group reading time, others for loan to families in residence and some as gifts to children who have to stay here - they'll keep them when they move on. A very moving story was told to me a few years ago. I asked a young mother what the worst thing was about being homeless and she said, 'My daughter had so many books, and she lost them when we had to leave our home. When we came to the shelter, they gave her a book and she was so happy, she cried.' For some children, the book provided by the Books for Kids drive will be a link to the past as well as a promise of a happier tomorrow."  Project FLIGHT, in partnership with the SPCA, and Hispanics United of Buffalo has secured from Pet Smart charities a $7500 grant to fund a humane education through education and literature curriculum program under the Books for empowerment initiative. For local schools, the program is entitled, "I've Got a Community" and promulgates, by example, adding the three "c's" of "caring, compassion and commitment" to the three "r's" in the schools. This humane educational program addresses the problems of illiteracy, by using humane education materials that children normally respond to: stories about animals. The program is built around the theme of community health which includes not only the well being of people, but of companion animals, wildlife, trees, plants, public servants, in other words, of all members within society. Another primary goal of the project is the building within each child enrolled in the program a commitment to all aspects of community. The SPCA Serving Erie County, Project FLIGHT and Hispanics United of Buffalo run the project. The curriculum is entitled, "I've Got a community." Individual groups working to bring this about include: Boys and Girls Clubs, Hispanic Business Association, Theater for Youth, Association of Buffalo Realtors, and WIVB-TV in Buffalo.

Other programs that the Books for Empowerment initiatives has sponsored has been the Wise Elder Book program, (which gave books to the elderly,) and the BookNooks, (which has distributed books to each of the Buffalo City Schools and other surrounding area schools.)   

Operation Outreach
   A Literacy Program that Focuses on Anti-Violence Prevention Strategies for Women and their Children, Year Two of the Program: Project F.L.I.G.H.T., acting as the lead agent, the SPCA Serving Erie County and the Junior League of Buffalo, Inc. have created a unique partnership which brought a program entitled, "Operation Outreach, USA" to Western New York. This program, which was developed by the American Humane Education Society, addresses some of society's greatest concerns: illiteracy, character formation and anti-violence. The program's philosophy focuses on helping children pre-K through sixth grade develop anti-violent attitudes, compassion and empathy for animals and all living things through the promotion of scholarly activities, responsible attitudes and humanistic behaviors. This program is especially important as an intervention mechanism since researchers have linked childhood violence toward animals with violence toward women, at home, in the schools, and with other adult anti-social behaviors. (Arkow, 1994; Lockwood, 1989) The pilot project was established within three of Buffalo's most underprivileged, depressed and violent neighborhoods through four of its elementary public schools. The schools involved include P.S. 67, 72, 76, and 90. In this project, 1408 children and 115 teachers were involved. The program includes twenty-six books from the Light up the Mind of a Child series, extensive workshop training for teachers, grade level lesson plans, a subscription to Animal Magazine, four books for each teacher to keep, a quarterly Kind News newsletter, video/slide presentations and other materials. Each student receives two free books a year to keep and each school receives reference books for the library. In year two of the program, it has been extended to Winchester School in West Seneca. There, over 500 students and over 35 teachers were introduced to the program.

Clearly, statistics show that violence against women, child abuse and cruelty to animals are interrelated crimes symptomatic of dysfunctional families and predictors of repetitive violence. (Arkow, 1994; Lockwood, 1989) This program provides intervention strategies by mobilizing community forces through family literacy initiatives in a collaborative, multidisciplinary attack against violence against women and children. Violence against women is an infraction against human rights. This program offers an innovative, intergenerational approach to solving this problem.

Family Literacy Symposium
The Junior League of Buffalo, in conjunction with State University College at Buffalo (Buffalo State College), presents a statewide, annual Family Literacy Symposium. The symposia focuses efforts by service providers, academic, community and governmental leaders to address the needs of educationally disadvantaged women from the cohesive perspective provided by the Buffalo Family Literacy Model. This effort provides workshops on the implementation of family literacy programs, current research and funding streams necessary to implement such programming. The symposium has taken place March 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997. Plans are currently underway to host the event in March 1998.

F.L.I.G.H.T. Student Scholarship
Project F.L.I.G.H.T. (Family Literacy for Intergenerational Growth and Home Teaching) sponsored, for the Division for Women Western New York Advisory Council, in September 1996, a $1000.00 Scholarship designed to recognize an outstanding female student who had overcome obstacles to pursue a degree in higher education. Students enrolled at fully accredited two, or four-year colleges or at a university, were eligible.  Click here to see the present and past winners of the scholarship.  

Community and School Linkages
 A Program Encouraging Innovative Family Literacy Programming: Project F.L.I.G.H.T. and the Junior League of Buffalo created "Linkages" - university/school partnerships. Grants were awarded to develop family literacy programs in the Buffalo Public Schools. The schools and programs funded in 1996-19967 included the Herman Badillo Academy, Futures Academy and Poplar Academy. At the Herman Badillo Bilingual School, a program was initiated to develop a "Cook/Book Club" in which caregivers and children enrolled at the schoolwork together to create meals as a team. This program recognizes cultural communities often view that mealtime as an opportunity to stimulate communication, sharing and care giving. At Futures Academy, a program was initiated to develop a Family Mathematics and Science Program. Family teams comprised of elementary children and their caregivers explore activities and experiments focusing on specific mathematics and science topics. Workshops are created to develop in both caregiver and child the opportunity to develop problem solving and reasoning skills. At Poplar Academy, a program was initiated to develop a "Books and Cooks" club in which caregivers, in partnership with their children, prepare snacks and produce artwork associated with stories they read together. Both learn to relate to story elements through food and related art projects. Linkages expand to McKinley High School with the addition of a "Family Newsletter" encouraging collaborative activities between students and parents under the aegis of F.L.I.G.H.T Associate Dr. Barbara T. Bontempo.

United in F.L.I.G.H.T
Project F.L.I.G.H.T. and the United Way Serving Erie County in partnership with the Buffalo Board of Education and the New York State Department of Mental Health have established a partnership in the school city of Buffalo with the goal of enhancing services to Buffalo school youth and their families. The DeWitt-Reader's Digest Fund provided start up funds for this program that promotes educational and family-life success for students and families with integrated support from prevention and intervention services through a school-based community collaboration. These extended service schools focus on youth development through family, school and community collaboration. Working with other agencies, the program is designed to improve the education and life success of the youth and families in their neighborhoods.       All in all, these initiatives and the record of project outcomes indicate that Project F.L.I.G.H.T. has been accepted as one salutary component in a community-wide attempt to ameliorate the effect of undereducation. The Project F.L.I.G.H.T. family literacy initiatives are housed under one umbrella and provide, at minimal cost, programs for disadvantaged families which result in enhanced education, a strengthened and supportive family unit, and an encouraging environment which nurtures a child's success in school. The preceding initiatives and collaborative partnerships exemplify, more fully, the value of such a program. The co-directors of Project F.L.I.G.H.T. gratefully acknowledge the generous support from the Wendt and Buffalo Foundations, and the dedicated support of their program partners.