Winter 2025

Memoirs Transform Lives

iMagicNation created a literacy program for Solid Rock youth (ages 18-22) who have “aged out” of foster care. These young adults have mental health and other challenges due to trauma. In addition, they tend to lag behind their peers academically because of irregular school attendance.

Yet, we have been able to reach them by introducing them to Jamihla Young and Dr. Kimberly Leverette through their memoirs: Broken Road to Redemption and Powerful Resilience, the selections for our summer and fall book clubs.

Marscia Anderson
CEO and Founder of Solid Rock

At our Bring Books Back event, Solid Rock’s Founder and CEO Marscia Anderson spoke about the clubs’ impact on participants. (Reading these books is) so empowering to them. They feel like they don’t have to be ashamed of their stories….ashamed of their path, ashamed of things they could not control…That empowerment creates confidence.” Anderson added that the book clubs are about more than literacy.

iMagicNation creates a space where words transform into possibilities. For young people who have faced instability and hardship, literacy becomes an anchor, a way to make sense of their past and imagine a better future for themselves. Week after week we see participants grow more confident in expressing themselves, engaging in conversation and believing in their own potential.

Donna Brown facilitates the book clubs and is encouraged by the participants’ growth. She recalls the day one young man asked her to recommend another of Young’s books. “I was floored. Initially he acted like he hated being in the book club. And, here he was asking me for another book. I didn’t have one by that author so I gave him Jack Gantos’ memoir Hole in My Life.”

As part of the book clubs, the authors joined some sessions remotely. “Reading the books is one thing, but seeing and talking to the authors, asking them questions took the experience to a different level,” says Brown, who understands the importance of choosing the right books. “The youth could relate to Young and Dr. Leverette because of the challenges they faced in their own lives. They discovered others have been through similar circumstances and come out on the other side. It gives the young people hope and allows them to imagine a different future for themselves.”

Looking ahead to 2026, Brown plans to start a writing workshop to help participants learn to write their own stories.

In This Issue

We are pleased to announce we are one of 21 Illinois organizations to receive a $5,000 grant from the Dollar General Foundation.

This year we also received corporate donations and grants from: Memorial Health, HSHS, Bank of Springfield, Church Women United, State Farm Agent Trae Covington and FVCC (Robert Jones Community Grant). In addition, we received individual donations from Mr. and Mrs. Tom Spann and Howard and Beverly Peters.

We appreciate everyone who has supported us this year and in the past. If you would like to become a monthly donor, please visit our website at: www.imagicnation.cloud.

iMagicNation was named the Best Tutoring or Learning Center in the 2025 Illinois Times’ Best of Springfield Contest by receiving the most votes in a field consisting of:

Dressed in a blue cape, sequined head wrap and slippers, the Fairy Book Mother made her debut at the Bring Books Back celebration.

“I wanted to do something different, to create a reading or book persona,” laughs Donna Brown “Kids love playing dress up. They love costumes. So, I figured why not create a costume I can wear to promote reading.”

Brown has decided to wear the costume whenever she is invited to read in schools and at community events. “I even have a magic wand,” she says, “because reading is magical.”

In addition to the Fairy Book Mother’s debut, the November event included local celebrity readers, including Poet Robert Horton and more than 10 local authors. Board member Eli Goodman, the final reader for the day, read a passage from his children’s book: The White Horse. At the event’s opening reception, Board member James Cockrell reminded us why authors and the books they write are so important:

People when they write a book, they are sowing their lives into those pages. Their lives are in those books and you’re experiencing what they’ve experienced. And you learn. You gain wisdom. I don’t have to experience everything. I can read a book and know what to do and what not to do. I can read a book and it stays with me. I can read it again if I need to…..

Reflecting on the event and Cockrell’s comments, Brown concluded, “It’s a sign of our times that we need an organization to promote reading. So many children (and adults) do not know the value of reading. They don’t know the wisdom James speaks about. They don’t get it, just like the Solid Rock participants didn’t realize how reading could change their lives.”

The newsletter provides lots of examples of our impact in the Springfield community. If you have to take a RMD (Required Minimum Distribution) from a qualified plan before the end of the year or if you would like to make a donation in memory of a loved one, please contact our Treasurer Willa Barger at: 217-553-2306 or willa.barger@comcast.net.

As you may know, iMagicNation owns four parcels of land (the site of our future home on the Northeast corner of 16 th and Spruce). What you may not know is that this land was purchased due to the generosity of one of our volunteers who donated a distribution from a tax-qualified plan to us.

Because we are a 501(c)(3) organization, your donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Copyright © 2025 iMagicNation, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
PO Box 9303, Springfield, IL 62791

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