Community Impact Mission is a core collective impact initiative with intense focus on helping communities, impacting lives and manifesting consciousness where people need lifting. As a community of faith, we’re working collaboratively through educational initiatives and multi-stakeholders, including non-profits to increase awareness and relevancy of literacy in every area of life. Through this initiative with community collaboration we are lifting people of all ages and much more! By mobilizing key educational components at the local community level, we are stimulating individual growth opportunities, which improves the overall quality of life for respective families, their youth and our city.

H.I.M is excited to have partnered with the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation where we are working in collaboration to heighten the awareness of early childhood literacy connecting various educational programs that further promote literacy as a foundation for success in every area of life. H.I.M. initially fostered a growing coalition of community and ecumenical leaders in the Independence Heights Community in Houston, Texas, and have established current working models and partnerships with community schools, School District’s, Churches, and Early Childhood Centers.

Through this initiative our aim is to strengthen one community at a time by fostering greater collaborations with growing organizations such as the Greater Houston Partnerships, Early Matters Initiative, Good Reasons Houston and related entities. We’re confident that partnerships among civic, community, corporate, educational leaders, and philanthropic are key to leveraging and mobilizing greater unison which provides the foundation, as well comprehensive support necessary to overcome this pervasive crisis.

Lifting through Literacy is a local initiative with a national focus, originally created and spearheaded by H.I.M. Founder with the support of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation and Houston Independent School District, “Literacy By 3” Curriculum Department. The initiative was originally designed to connect Ecumenical Leaders, Churches and coalition of Religious groups to involve all members of laity to serve as mentors by challenging Youth Pre-K through Third grade and beyond to deepen literacy skills while Faith-Based engaged, working to instill a lifelong love for reading as Faith Leaders guide their youth into a deeper relationship with HIM. Recognizing that Faith is such a vital role in the lives of families and their youth, it becomes incumbent for Faith Leaders to aid in increasing the awareness concerning the importance of high quality early education. The earlier the educational impact the greater the welfare of our religious institutions, schools, communities, and cities around the world.

The Lifting through Literacy Initiative began as a neighborhood “Pilot” during the 2014- 2015 school years and morphed into a Summer Reading Challenge between a coalition of approximately 20 Churches and 2 neighborhood Elementary Schools, James Burrus and John F. Kennedy with Roosevelt later joining, all of which are adjacently located in the Historical Independence Heights Neighborhood in Houston, Texas. The goal was to have a focused and collective impact effort on one challenged community at a time through an identified Community Partner, combining key stakeholders including churches, civic, community, schools and other non-profits. Realizing once successful such a model could be expanded and implemented in neighborhoods across the city, state and beyond.

H.I.M enthusiastically adapted the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation Blueprint for Community Action prepared by Deloitte Consulting, LLP, embracing its Founders fundamental belief “if you help a person to read, then their opportunities in life will be endless” ~Barbara Bush. Moreover it is the belief of H.I.M. Founder, that low-literacy contributes to almost all social ills, including most religious lack of understandings, which has the proclivity to incite unnecessary divisions among varied communities and Faiths. It has become the objective of H.I.M. through the Lifting through Literacy model to help elevate and impact early childhood literacy through a Faith-Based perspective ensuring that every child deserves the opportunity to reach his or her God-given potential. As a result H.I.M. is doubly committed to “taking the necessary action to reverse the often disastrous social, economic and religious effects caused by the vicious cycle of illiteracy in our world”.

The “Lifting through Literacy” initiative has rapidly accelerated as a proven best practice and sustainable model for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Organizations are repeatedly assuming the model, enlarging its footprint through deliberate Faith-based and community partnerships. Through these energetic community collaborations the message of early childhood literacy is expanding, while increasing awareness that illiteracy affects all areas of society, including our Faith.