Our network of literacy programming targets seven neighborhoods of need—including East Liberty, Hazelwood, the Hill District, Homewood/East Hills, North Side, South Side, and Wilkinsburg—where kids often have fewer, if any, books in their homes and have spent considerably less time reading one-on-one with an adult.

RIF kids are predominantly Black and low-income, the two demographics in Pittsburgh schools whose 3rd-graders register the lowest literacy and the greatest disparity in achievement. According to the 2025 A+ Schools’ Report to the Community, 71% of students from low-income backgrounds and 75% of Black students in grades 3-5 scored below proficient in reading.

Early intervention is crucial to combatting these concerning trends. Many low-income families lack the books, resources, and time required to build literacy-rich homes and prepare their young children for kindergarten and long-term success. As a result, low-income children typically enter kindergarten already behind in social, emotional and behavioral development, as well as literacy, with the greatest disparities among Black and Hispanic youth. By age five, children who grow up in literacy-rich homes will hear roughly one million more words than children who do not, and this learning gap often widens over time.

National research ties low literacy to student absenteeism, lower graduation rates, poor job opportunities and unemployment, incarceration, poor health, and higher mortality rates. A study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania also found that low literacy is a “social risk factor” for young girls, especially girls of color, and a strong predictor of teen pregnancy.

In short, the role of literacy in advancing social equity cannot be underestimated. A child’s life outcome strongly depends upon their access to tools like books, literacy-building opportunities and motivational relationships. That’s where RIF intervenes; our “pushed-in” literacy programs help to disrupt these trends and open a different pathway for underserved youth and families. Recognizing the potential of all children to become future leaders in our community, we seek to empower our RIF kids by providing the tools to help them develop into lifelong readers, learners and leaders.

RIF’s research-based strategy is to reach children and families early and often with books, resources, skill-building opportunities, and relationships that are motivational for children and caregivers.