Since 2017, the Steelcase Foundation has supported the Literacy Center of West Michigan’s Family Literacy Program, a multi-generational family support that provides English language and literacy instruction to parents at their child’s school, amplifying their ability to support their child’s learning while creating a sense of belonging in their school community. Hear from Executive Director Wendy V. Falb as she shares her insights into this program.
Name and role with the organization.
Wendy V. Falb, PhD, Executive Director
Brief overview of your organization and what you do.
The need for adult literacy in West Michigan is much larger than most people realize. Nearly a third of adults in Kent County have less than a fourth-grade level of literacy. And literacy shows up everywhere—in your work, your health, your relationships, and certainly in how you engage with your child’s education.
The Literacy Center of West Michigan is the largest community-based organization in Michigan dedicated to adult literacy and English language learning, instructing more than 1,300 learners annually.
Our approach is to meet learners where literacy matters in their lives. We provide instruction in workplaces, schools, libraries, health clinics, community settings, and online, and we contextualize that instruction around what learners want and need to accomplish. For parents, one of the most important of those places is their child’s school.
Tell us about the Family Literacy Program. What are some of its goals, and who does it serve?
The underlying premise is that a parent’s learning and a child’s learning are connected. Parents are building their own English language and literacy skills while learning the language of the school system—how to communicate with teachers, understand school communications, ask questions, and participate in their child’s education. At the same time, we focus on literacy-building behaviors families can use at home through reading, conversation, storytelling, play, and shared learning.
Our model is grounded in the National Center for Families Learning’s two-generation approach and the Community Schools model. Classes are intentionally located in the schools their children attend. The community that forms in our classes strengthens parents’ sense of belonging at the school as well as important relationships with other parents and staff.
How has participant voice shaped this program over time?
Participant voice has always been important to the Family Literacy Program because adult learning needs to be connected to the goals and priorities of the learner. Learners identify their goals, and regular reflection and feedback help instructors understand what participants are finding useful, where they are encountering challenges, and what they want to address in class. That feedback informs instruction and curriculum.
Over time, we have expanded that practice beyond the classroom. Parents have participated in focus groups, offered feedback to school and community partners, and shared their experiences with the systems their families use. Their perspectives have helped partners identify barriers and make changes in response to families’ experiences.
How does this work align with the Steelcase Foundation grantmaking priority of Whole Child Learning and Whole Family Supports?
Steelcase Foundation’s focus on Whole Child Learning and Whole Family Supports reflects national best practice in recognizing that children’s learning and development are connected to the learning, well-being, and engagement of their families. Family Literacy is built on that same understanding: strengthening a parent’s literacy and language skills has value for the adult, while also strengthening their ability to participate in and support their child’s education.
What I appreciate about Steelcase Foundation’s approach is that it makes room to invest in parents as part of the educational ecosystem surrounding a child. Family Literacy brings adult education into the school and creates opportunities for parents to build their own skills while deepening their engagement and ownership of to their children’s learning and school community. That is a much fuller understanding of what it takes to support children’s educational success.
What do you hope is the lasting impact of Literacy Center of West Michigan and the Family Literacy Program?
At the Literacy Center, we want adult foundational education to be understood as essential to the success of families and the next generation. That means adults have access to learning that supports their own goals, while schools and other institutions recognize that adult literacy affects how people participate in education, work, healthcare, and community life.
In Family Literacy, we’re also looking closely at how families can have a greater role in shaping programs and the systems they interact with. We want to deepen participatory practices that give parents meaningful opportunities to reflect on their experiences and influence how programs like this develop.
We expect to turn those participatory practices into practical tools that other family literacy programs can use. There is currently a gap in the field around evaluation: how programs gather meaningful feedback from families, use it to improve instruction, and bring that information back to schools and other institutions. We look forward to developing and testing new tools through our Family Literacy Program to address that gap and share what we learn with other national practitioners.
Is there anything else you’d like to lift-up about this work?
We recently announced that the Literacy Center has received the 2026 Kislak Family Foundation Prize, one of the top international prizes presented through the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program. This award recognizes an organization with an outsized impact on literacy relative to its size or years of operation.
We’re grateful to the Steelcase Foundation for its investment in Family Literacy and its commitment to whole-family approaches that reflect national best practice. Their support allows us to continue offering the program here in West Michigan while contributing what we learn to the broader field of family literacy.
