They landed a spot at 826 Valencia St. and set to work. But because the space was zoned for retail, they needed to open a store. They looked at the ship-like structure of the space, and decided to open a pirate store that would purvey supplies to the working buccaneer — and books by our young authors, of course.

Behind the store, a crew of intrepid volunteers built a Writing Lab. Word spread quickly, and soon every chair was filled with students working on their writing with our trained tutors. Due to the success of the model, a separate organization called 826 National was founded in 2008 to help other cities launch their own successful writing and tutoring centers. We are now one of nine official 826 chapters in the United States, inspiring dozens more like-minded groups around the world.