The Volunteers of America, Dakota’s Even Start Program is designed to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by integrating early childhood education, adult literacy or adult basic education and parenting education into a unified family literacy program. Even Start is implemented through cooperative projects that build on high-quality existing community resources, creating a new range of services forchildren, families and adults.

Even Start assists children and families to achieve academic standards set by the State of South Dakota and use instructional programs that are based on scientifically based reading  research to:

• Enrich language development, extend learning, support high levels of educational success for children birth to age eight and their parent.  
• Provide literacy services of sufficient hours and duration to make sustainable changes in a family.
• Provide integrated instructional services for families, where children and their parents learn together to develop habits of life-long learning; and support families committed to education and to economic independence.

A Four Component Model of Family Literacy

• Adult  Education
• Early Childhood Education
• Parenting Education
• Parent and Child Interactive Literacy Time

Even Start provides services both in the home and at two center-based locations, which include:

Hispanic Outreach Through a partnership with the Presentation Sisters Hispanic Ministry, Even Start services are offered to Hispanic families on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in the fall and spring Classes are held at:

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
1220 E. 8th Street 
Sioux Falls, SD
6:30-8:15 p.m.