Make a difference in a child’s life. Literacy rates in early elementary school have proven to be a foreboding indicator of a student’s success down the line in the rest of their academic career, and beyond. Fourth-graders who can’t read at grade-level are four times less likely to graduate from high school. Without a strong reading and fluency foundation, children are being faced with obstacles that challenge them throughout their school experience. And that’s where AARP Foundation Experience Corps volunteers come in. 

AARP Foundation Experience Corps (EC) is a national, intergenerational volunteer-based tutoring program that is proven to help children who aren’t reading at grade level become great readers by the end of third grade. The Portland chapter of EC is housed within local nonprofit Metropolitan Family Service (MFS), whose mission is to “help people move beyond the limitations of poverty, inequity and social isolation”– and EC seeks to do just that. Older adult volunteers are placed in a neighborhood school and matched with several students identified by their teachers as struggling readers, working together for several hours each week and get to see their students learn and grow, as readers and as humans

If you’re interested in investing in the success of Portland’s students, consider applying to be an Experience Corps mentor. By committing 4-10 hours a week, you can help students get up to their grade’s reading level, setting the foundation for academic promise in the years to come. By serving as a volunteer, you really will be able to make a difference in a kid’s life. Literacy opens so many doors, all of which will only aid students along their path. 

To read more please see the full article and volunteer flier.

For more information about volunteering for the 2021-22 school year:

• Email: volunteer@mfs.email 
• Call: 503-290-9427, or
• Join a virtual informational chat: https://zoom.us/j/7361049406
  • June 29th at 10am
  • July 16th at 2pm
  • July 29th at 10am
  • August 11th at 2pm