The Andrew and Mary P. O'Neal Cares Project

Program Overview

The Aniyah C. O'Neal Book Mobile for Literacy Program

According to the, National Center on Family Homelessness,
"2.5 million children are now homeless each year in America,"
and the number continues to grow. It is a systemic problem - facing nearly every state, county, and city throughout the US. Between 2013-2014 school year, there were an estimated 1.4 million school aged children not enrolled in US school systems. Although there is no accurate means of measuring the exact number of children not enrolled, it is suspected that the number of homeless children significantly increase this number. In 2015,1,263,323 homeless students were registered in public schools. As would be expected, a significant number of these children, without a stable environment, struggle to meet academic standards.

One of Mary O'Neal's passions as an educator, was her
fight for literacy. As a core member who helped shape the
Reading Is Fundemental Program in the DC Public School System, Mary strongly believed that everyone had a right to proper basic education. She also firmly believed that, if we are to effectively attack the problem of literacy, we need to start in the womb. This program is specifically designed to function, minus the mobile, in the same manner as Mary O'Neal conducted her classes, and reached out to involve the community at-large.

When it comes to education, literacy should be our number one focus. You can't solve a math problem if you can't read it. You can't pay your bills if you can't read them. You can't fill out a job application if you can't read it.

To assist in maintaining the educational development of
these forgotten children, The Aniyah C. O'Neal Book Mobile for Literacy Program is designed to provide books, learning tools, mentoring, and tutoring services to several shelters that house homeless families with children within the Washington, DC Metropolitan area.

First, selected shelters will receive bookcases, decorated by Crescentia O'Neal-Seralathan, filled with children's books, and learning aids. Second, because of the transient nature of shelters, volunteers will distribute books for children to keep, via a book mobile, on a rotating basis, approximately every two weeks to participating domestic violence organizations. Local celebrities, business leaders, musicians, and high school and college students will be solicited to help deliver the bookshelves and books, and read a story to the children - affording them the opportunity to become involved, and give back to the community.

Additional long term goals are to solicit local volunteers, including high school and college students, to provide tutorial services for the children and their parents, who are living in selected shelters. We are currently working on a plan to solicit volunteers who are fluent in other languages.

According to the Wallace Foundation, " Some 40 million American adults read below the sixth-grade level, making it tough for them to do everyday tasks ranging from writing a letter to filling out a job application." With nine out of 10 jobs today going to college graduates, not having a high school credential is strongly associated with unemployment, poverty, poor health and eventually similar problems for one's children.

Student and Volunteer Success Stories

Dear Crescentia,

What an honor it was for me to accept The Andrew and Mary P. O'Neal Cares Project, 2015 Humanitarian Award, for Ghanaian Mothers' Hope's work in Ghana, West Africa.

Crescentia, thank you for all of your hard work. I enjoyed meeting the musicians, working with you through the months of preparation, and am delighted that the Andrew and Mary P. O'Neal Cares Project is changing the lives of others.

Thank you, Crescentia, for your diligence in this challenging project.

Sincerely yours,

Deborah Frock, Founder/ Executive Director Ghanaian Mothers' Hope, Inc