Parentis Foundation

Parentis Foundation seeks to address the needs of children unable to read proficiently by the end of third grade: A major contributor to poverty.
We empower older adults to leverage their talent and wisdom through one-on-one tutoring and mentoring which inspires academic achievement and fosters positive social development of youth. By providing children with the guidance to grow and improve their literacy skills, our volunteers open the door to a limitless future.

Parentis Foundation is the nonprofit affiliate of Parentis Health, a senior care organization committed to empowering lives at every stage. Rooted in the belief that dignity, purpose, and connection should be accessible to all, Parentis Foundation fulfills this mission by bridging generations to address two critical community needs: childhood literacy and older adult engagement.

Our flagship program, Empowering Readers OC (EROC), pairs trained volunteers aged 50 and older with at-risk students in grades 1–5 who are reading below grade level. Tutors provide weekly one-to-one literacy support at high-need elementary schools and Boys & Girls Club sites across Orange County. This proven intergenerational model strengthens reading skills, boosts student confidence, and fosters meaningful mentor relationships. By helping young students become successful readers, Empowering Readers OC breaks down barriers to academic success and future opportunity—while giving older adults a rewarding way to stay active, connected, and impactful in their communities.

At Parentis Foundation, we foster enriching, intergenerational connections that empower both older adult volunteers and young students. Through literacy tutoring and mentorship, our program helps build self-confidence, improve well-being, and cultivate a shared sense of purpose across generations. Empowering Readers OC is the only intergenerational reading tutoring and intervention program serving underserved communities throughout Orange County, offered in both in-person and virtual formats. During the 2024–2025 school year, we are supporting students at nine Boys & Girls Clubs and four elementary schools. Each year, we train more than 200 volunteers, who collectively contribute over 40,000 hours to support the academic success and emotional development of more than 450 elementary students.

We measure our impact through pre- and post-program assessments focused on the following outcomes:
Student Growth: 70% of students who begin the year reading below grade level improve their reading fluency by at least half a grade, and over 30% improve by one full grade level or more. Additionally, 85% demonstrate measurable growth in social-emotional development, including increased confidence and classroom engagement.

Volunteer Impact: 100% of senior tutors report high satisfaction with their volunteer experience, citing a renewed sense of purpose, increased physical and mental activity, and pride in their students' progress.
Partner Satisfaction: All school and program partners report that Empowering Readers OC tutors have a positive impact on students' reading skills and social-emotional development, particularly in motivation, focus, participation, and self-esteem.

Empowering Readers OC delivers a proven, two-generation solution to closing the literacy gap—one student, one mentor, one connection at a time.

Parentis Foundation’s goal for the 2025–2026 school year is to continue delivering Empowering Readers OC at all 13 current program locations without interruption while expanding to three additional high-need sites. Our proven intergenerational literacy program supports struggling readers in grades 1–5 through one-to-one tutoring by trained older adult volunteers. Due to a reduction in federal and school partnership funding, we are facing a $100,000 budget gap that threatens our ability to sustain and grow the program. To meet the needs of over 500 students and ensure adequate staffing, including site coordination and reading specialist support, we seek partners to help bridge this gap. Continued investment will allow us to improve reading outcomes, strengthen student confidence, and support meaningful older adult engagement across underserved communities in Orange County.

Parentis Foundation's flagship program, Empowering Readers OC provides literacy support both virtually and in person to Orange County based schools and after-school enrichment programs such as Boys & Girls Clubs, Charter Schools, and Title 1 elementary schools. We currently provide tutoring services within Boys and Girls Clubs located in Aliso Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Tustin, Huntington Beach, Fullerton and San Clemente, as well as the Edward B. Cole Academy in Santa Ana, and Kinoshita Elementary in San Juan Capistrano.

"Our mission remains steadfast: we continue to provide crucial reading intervention for struggling young readers in 1st-5th grades," says Executive Director Janice Frechette-Artinger. "High-quality tutoring is an effective tool for delivering differentiated literacy instruction. Empowering Readers OC (EROC) tutors offer skill-focused tutoring with quality and fidelity, ensuring each student receives the attention they need.

Mentoring from older adults to young children, along with elevating reading skills, are two essential components for the success of EROC. Our Empowering Readers OC (EROC) Program Partners unanimously rated our program as highly beneficial to students, with little to no burden on their staff or teachers. Best practices in literacy tutoring highlight the importance of a consistent, well-defined session structure. The EROC model includes a 30-minute tutoring session designed to provide targeted practice in skills critical to comprehension and overall reading.

The core of the EROC program is fluency, a key bridge between word recognition and comprehension. Empowering Readers OC is an evidence-based intervention, distinct from other reading programs, and there are compelling reasons for EROC older-adult volunteer tutors to help struggling readers become fluent readers. Industry literature shows that fluency is highly predictive of overall reading ability in elementary school students.

The EROC 30-minute tutor structure includes an opening activity to build the tutor-student relationship, skill-building activities focused on literacy skills such as fluency, opportunities to build other competencies through review and reflection, 'quality talk,' a tutor read-aloud to model fluent reading and foster a love of reading, and a closing activity to affirm the student's success."

I truly believe that every child should have that same opportunity to achieve their best potential and it must start with a solid foundation of reading skills. It is important to plant that seed early enough to support ongoing learning in other skills. I also believe that it is an obligation and right for those who have benefitted in the past to pay forward for the betterment of the next generation. That powerful combination is what attracted me to Parentis Foundation, and it is my great honor to serve as the current President of the Board of Directors. Our board, staff and volunteer tutors are dedicated to achieving our mission, opening doors to the future on a solid foundation of reading skills and supportive mentors. We have an impact on their lives, but just as important, they have an impact on ours by reaching their true potential." -- John Lamirande