HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A nonprofit is making sure Central Virginia families have their basic needs met, so children can have the best opportunity to focus on their education.
Chuck Caple launched Hope for Learning in March of 2020, right before the pandemic, with a goal of helping improve literacy rates at Title I schools in Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield.
"If a child does not learn to read by third grade level, the percentage and the chances of them never learning to read or dropping out or failing, increases tremendously," explained Caple. "Because the fourth grade level curriculum is so much farther advanced than the third grade level."
Caple and his team provide books and mentoring for hundreds of kids, but they recently launched a new pilot program to help fill the gap for kids at home.
It's called Resource 180, and with the help of social workers, school counselors and site coordinators at these schools, Hope for Learning identifies students and their families who are desperately in need of help securing basic household needs, like food, clothes and toiletries.
"If you have a deficiency where your basic need is concerned, soaps, so you can keep clean, laundry detergent and things at home like that to keep your clothes clean, toothbrush, toothpaste, things of that nature, you are going to be distracted," said Caple. "What I determined was that if we can remove those distractions, the kid only has one thing to focus on now, and that's learning."
Single mom Shaaton Sutton works hard as a home health nurse in Henrico, but said it’s difficult arranging her working hours and also making sure she can care for her 11-year-old son Nazir, who has autism.
"It's really, really hard taking care of an autistic child," noted Sutton. "With schooling, he's easily distracted. If he's not having a good day at home or something goes wrong at home, it is messing him up in school. He also worries about me a lot, but I need him to stay a child and worry about school."
Hope for Learning was able to help Sutton by providing meals, and she said she doesn’t know where she would be without this extra help.
"It feels great that you're not alone in this world by yourself," said an emotional Sutton. "I would like to say thank you for helping me and my family and coming through. I really appreciate it, and I appreciate everything that they did for me."
Hope for Learning has helped more than 2,500 students over the past three years, and they are currently working with four families through Resource 180.
Sutton said they rely on donations to help continue their mission. He notes for $10 a month, the nonprofit can feed 10 kids and for $50 a month they can provide four families with toiletries, socks, underwear, toothpaste.
You can visit https://hopeforlearning.org/ to learn more or make a donation.
