When the Foundation was established 20 years ago, there were 34 literacy organizations with around 1400 tutors serving the same number of students across Virginia. From 1987 to 1995, the number of private volunteer literacy groups increased from 34 to 74, and the number of volunteer tutors rose from approximately 1400 to 4,523. The number of students reached was increased by 290%. Today, there are about 140 community-based literacy organizations serving 15,000 under-educated adults across Virginia. Over the past two decades, the Foundation has provided many of these literacy organizations with grants totaling over $3 million.
In 2002, the Virginia Literacy Foundation formed a partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University to create The Literacy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University, which responds to the dual needs to provide sound research and to affect public policy. To that end, the Institute includes representatives from VCU's School of Education, Center for Public Policy, and the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center.