Little Readers wins grant to connect more incarcerated parents to their kids

ZEBULON, Ga. – Anne Van Pelt has been away from her "princess" for several months. To help stay connected to her daughter, she is video taped reading a book to her ten-year-old daughter.

Van Pelt is currently serving a sentence for drug-related charges at a female Probation Detention Center.

Participating in HeartBound Ministries' Little Readers program is one of the few ways Van Pelt can connect with her daughter. Every three months, she sits down to read her daughter a new story.

In Georgia, there's an estimated 75,000 children with incarcerated parents. HeartBound is working to connect children and parents while fostering literacy skills by filming parents reading a children's book on video. That video and book are then sent to the parent's child, where he or she can watch their parent, see that they're OK and improve their reading skills by following along.

"It helps both of us. It helps me to allow him to see that I'm okay. And it helps him to see that I'm okay," says Kara Keene, a program participant.

In June, the president of HeartBound received news that changed the course of the Little Readers program. Her nonprofit had just received $50,000 from the Gannett Foundation to help prison inmates read to their children over video.

"I cried. I started crying. My arms broke out in chill bumps," Andrea Shelton, president of HeartBound Ministries, said upon learning her nonprofit had just received the money.

The Gannett Foundation awarded $600,000 in grant money, along with $945,000 in fundraising, to local nonprofits across the country as part of a program to empower communities and share their challenges on a national platform.

The program, a USA TODAY NETWORK initiative called "A Community Thrives" (ACT), selected 12 grant recipients "based on viability of the (organization's) project and opportunity to improve the community centered around one of the three focus categories – wellness, education or arts & culture."

“We were so moved by the number of inspiring ideas submitted to ACT,” said Bob Dickey, president and chief executive officer of Gannett. “We are excited about the opportunity to empower these organizations to create real change in their communities.”

More than 500 organizations from 40 states applied to the grant and raised a required $3,000 or $6,000 in online donations, depending on their annual operating budgets.

The 500 nonprofits went well beyond the amount required, raising more than $945,000 through the online crowdfunding site Crowdrise. Overall, ACT contributed $1.5 million to local nonprofits nationwide.

Now HeartBound Ministries is executing their plan to use the $50,000 grant to expand the Little Readers program. "We're up for the challenge,” says Shelton.

HeartBound plans to use the money to increase presence in other facilities and expand the program to states other than Georgia. Shelton wants to develop a "Little Readers kit" curriculum to help other locations more easily launch the program for their incarcerated parents. "We can meet the demand now,” Shelton said. “More than ever."

"Some parents in prison never dreamed they would have the opportunity to read to their child," Shelton said. "They want children to be able to see them, to be able to tell their child they love them."

To check out the missions of the other grant recipients, go to: https://act.usatoday.com/thrive/

WPXI