CLEVELAND — News 5 is Following Through by highlighting the importance of boosting children’s literacy rates across Northeast Ohio. You can join us in helping the cause by donating to our “If You Give a Child a Book” campaign.
You can scan the QR code on your screen during our newscasts or text WEWS to 50155 to help get books for children needing them.
Data shows that 66% of Cleveland residents are functionally illiterate, and in some neighborhoods, the illiteracy rate is a staggering 95%.
A Cleveland-area mom and her son have worked tirelessly since 2017 to get books in homes and the hands of area kids and families.
Their nonprofit, Literacy in the H.O.O.D., has garnered national attention and critical acclaim. But it’s now entering a new chapter and closing out another.
Chrishawndra Matthews says she’s ready for a new journey, a new story of her own.
She and her son, Derrick Smith Jr., are moving from Cleveland to Nevada next year. She has 11 months left here at home.
She says that although you won’t physically see them after that, the nonprofit will operate in a different capacity.
She says, after all, every city in America has a hood, and she’s here to “help out our disenfranchised.”
“Literacy in the H.O.O.D. is coming to a city, a state, a hood, and country near you,” Matthews told us.
Nearly 700,000 free books were handed out, and countless community events later, Matthews and her son are entering a new chapter in their lives.
“We really do just try to go out and give away as many books as we can,” Smith Jr. said. He’s the founder of Boys Do Read.
“We’ve outgrown Cleveland. So we’re gonna go and we’re gonna expand,” Matthews said.
Proudly known to many as “the book lady in the bright blue van,” Matthews says she has a much larger purpose.
She says her mobile mission isn’t stopping, and she’s not closing the book, so to speak.
It’s just going to look and feel different in the next year as she prepares for a cross-country move.
“Books will still be available in Cleveland, but we’re going to some bigger demographics, we’re going to another country, going to another hood, and we’re going to another state,” Matthews said.
She’s partnered with an organization in Japan, taking their mission internationally.
They will distribute books to overseas children who are often bullied for their reading ability.
Her son experienced it first-hand, which prompted him to start his own organization.
News 5 followed every step of his journey.
“I’m just trying to help create a safe environment for younger boys like me to share their feelings and emotions,” Smith said.
“That’s why he started Boys Do Read because he was bullied for being the only kid in kindergarten who could read. But that’s his fire under his feet,” Matthews said.
Derrick, now 13 and in eighth grade, has since created “Brothers Bonding Over Books, a monthly support meet-up.
Matthews Literacy in the H.O.O.D. is reaching new audiences and ages as well, including senior citizens who don’t have access and are on a fixed income.
“We’re going in there, we’re going to low income housing, we’re going to the rec centers, we’re going to the playgrounds,” Matthews said.
While Matthews says Cleveland will always be home, she’s eager for the next step in her giving journey.
“Children need to read! Studies show 20 minutes a day changes your life,” Matthews said.
After all—she says she’s a girl who loves a good book and loves her son more than life itself.
“I love you, baby, and I’m proud of you,” she said.
She says the work will never stop when it comes to improving literacy rates.
“Books are still gonna be available—ya know. Generally I pull up in my cute little van that Kelly Clarkson bought me, but I’m taking that to Las Vegas,” Matthews said.
Matthews stresses Literacy in the H.O.O.D. is not going away.
It’s just going to operate differently locally.
It will be more of a free pick-up and drop-off situation with free books instead of her cruising around town in her van.
She says she has multiple events planned over the next year. She plans to start a new chapter of the nonprofit in Las Vegas.
To donate to Literacy in the H.O.O.D. or contact Matthews, CLICK HERE.
