Improving access to education and job opportunities will be essential to the long-term goal of reducing poverty in the region.
“We can help with education. We can help with access to education in Lewis County, access to resources to education. That’s something that makes a big deal and can really make a big impact,” United Way of Lewis County Executive Director Christian Bruhn said Thursday.
At a luncheon held at Jester’s Auto Museum and Events Center in Chehalis Thursday, Sept. 7, the United Way of Lewis County highlighted community efforts to increase childhood literacy and success in school as it seeks to reduce poverty in the county by 30% by 2030. According to United Way data, 15% of the 4,846 households in Lewis County live in poverty.
The United Way has shifted to a strategy of “cradle to career and beyond'' over the past two years. Thursday’s event offered an update on some of the programs that make up that plan.
“We look at the entire journey of education for people,” Bruhn said. “Whether it’s early learning or early reading. Whether it’s trying to get into an apprenticeship or trying to get into college, or financial literacy. Education crosses a lot of the T’s and dots a lot of the I’s for folks.”
According to the United Way’s Development Director Chris Judd, more than 90,000 books have been delivered to Lewis County children since 2019 as part of the Imagination Library. Founded by country music icon Dolly Parton in 1995, the library provides children under 5 years old with a free book each month.
The state Legislature provides roughly half the funds needed for the Imagination Library.
Sponsored by the United Way of Lewis County and the Lewis County Rotary Foundation, the program has delivered 91,454 books in Lewis County.
Currently, 2,589 kids in the county are registered for the program, 793 of whom have signed up this year.
The program has delivered more than 200 million books worldwide, and expanded statewide last month, with Parton making a trip to Olympia to mark the expansion.
“Dolly coming to our community boosted our enrollment, like, overnight,” Judd said.
Judd said Lewis County has the highest participation in the program out of any county in the state.
Judd said he also enjoys participating in the Reading Buddies program, which pairs a reading buddy with a student who may need extra help for an hour a week for more reading practice.
“United Way of Lewis County’s reading buddy program is making a direct impact with the K to third-grade level,” Judd said.
During the 2023-2023 school year, six school districts deployed the program with 14 reading buddies. During the year, 96% of the 52 students who participated in the program increased their reading level.
"It makes you feel pretty good," Judd said.
The Lewis County United Way will host Pints with a Purpose from 1 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 7 at The Orchard at Sunshine Hill, located at 2178 S Scheuber Road, Chehalis. The event will include entertainment, food trucks and games.
The organization will also host the Hell’s Belles at 8 p.m. on Nov. 17 at McFiler’s Chehalis Theatre.
Attendees at both events must be 21 or older.
Learn more about the United Way of Lewis County and its programs and events at https://www.lewiscountyuw.com/.
