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Welcome to the Literacy Links Program founded by philanthropic women's ministry leader, Dianna
Hobbs.
She is the Founder of Empowering Everyday Women Ministries and first lady of City Church of Buffalo,
NY, and she has launched the Literacy Links Program to fight illiteracy among minority youth.
Hobbs, an award-winning web publisher, author, and college-educated, home-schooling mother of four,
is providing intensive vocabulary and reading sessions to children in Kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Literacy Links’ goal is to establish a strong literacy foundation for children that will lead to a future of
reading proficiency, which is necessary for both spiritual growth and natural success. The program’s
mission and mantra is “Building Future Leaders.”
What sets this literacy program apart is the novelty of the method of service delivery. Hobbs does pop-
up style sessions around the community to provide flexibility and convenience to families that may be
dealing with transportation issues in the city.
"The Literacy Links is closing the literacy gap that exists in the African American community among
children in kindergarten through third grade, ages five through eight," explained Kenya Hobbs, pastor of
City Church and husband of Mrs. Hobbs. "We have pored over reports from the Annie E. Casey
Foundation regarding the literacy gains that need to be evident in children for reading proficiency by the
third grade."
"We make it easier for families to experience these services in a convenient local area -- sometimes
even in the home,” Mrs. Hobbs said in a statement released by her longtime publicist, Amy Bertinelli.
The program founder's grassroots, hands-on approach is changing the grim literacy statistics in her city
one child at a time, one family at a time.
According to the Annie Casey Foundation, which has done extensive research into literacy trends,
millions of American children get to fourth grade without learning to read proficiently, which puts them on
the high school dropout track. The ability to read by third grade is crucial to a child’s success in school,
life-long earning potential, and their ability to contribute to the nation’s economy and its security.
Mrs. Hobbs’ approach to literacy was developed over the course of nearly two decades of home-
educating the four children she shares with her husband of nearly 21 years. “After making successful
and passionate readers out of the Hobbs children, and seeing our oldest daughter transition from
homeschool straight into college, earning a 4.0 GPA in her first semester, I believe we can help set other
children in our community up for success as well.”
The Literacy Links Program relies on contributions of volunteers, donors and partners to fulfill its
mission, which is why Hobbs said she is “tremendously thankful for the outpouring of support and book
donations”—particularly from Project FLIGHT. All donations are welcome.
Project FLIGHT is a Buffalo-based not-for-profit organization devoted to promoting literacy in children
and caregivers, through school and family literacy initiatives. It works collaboratively with practitioners,
schools, community organizations and businesses locally, statewide, nationally, and internationally. The
organization provided a generous supply of books to Literacy Links through City Church and
Empowering Everyday Women Ministries, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, to bolster its community efforts.
About City Church and Empowering Everyday Women Ministries
City Church of Buffalo is an inner-city church plant founded by Pastor Kenya and First Lady Dianna
Hobbs that focuses on meeting the spiritual and practical needs of those in and around Western New
York.
Empowering Everyday Women Ministries is a global, donor-supported women’s ministry founded by
Dianna Hobbs committed to serving the under-served in the U.S. and around the world by providing free
Gospel resources, and launching charitable initiatives.
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