Tarrant NET was formed in the aftermath of one of the most horrific events in Fort Worth history - the 1999 shooting at Wedgwood Baptist Church that left eight people dead, including gunman Larry Gene Ashbrook, and seven more wounded.
Tarrant NET Executive Director Jeff Sanders was a pastor at a local church when the shooting occurred. He saw the results when churches put aside denominational differences to deal with that tragedy.
"It was out of that crisis that I began asking the question, "Why don't we do this all the time?" " he said. The result was Tarrant NET, which is a loose affiliation of churches and organizations that initially came together on special events.
"About four years ago, we began moving to what we call DNA-type activities instead of events, moving to more long-term strategic impact initiatives," he said.
That led to Read2Win, an ambitious program that visualizes matching churches or organizations with all 83 Fort Worth ISD elementary schools and the two public charter schools to provide 1,000 literacy coaches to work with first graders on their reading. Sultan Cole of Tarrant NET directs Read2Win.
Former First Lady Laura Bush will highlight a benefit for Read2Win, Sept. 9, at the Fort Worth Convention Center. Bush is a frequent speaker and advocate for literacy, education and women's rights.
"We're two years in. We have 46 churches and organizations, and we're working with 34 schools currently," Sanders said. "Traditionally, we've worked with churches, and that's our primary focus, but we work with some other organizations as well. There's no members or membership dues."
Among non-church organizations that have been involved in the reading program during its first two years are the local office of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Fort Worth Housing Department.
