This document offers an overview of the Houston READ Commission (HRC), a nonprofit urban literacy coalition created by the Mayor and City Council in the Greater Houston area. It describes how the coalition of community organizations first came together in 1988, in response to a survey's finding that there are over one million functionally illiterate adults in the Houston area. The partnership of teachers, facilitators, administrative and program staff, and volunteers views community-based education as the key to a literate community and that collaborative learning provides the foundation for community-based education. In 1995 the Houston READ Commission, with its 96 partner agencies, was the largest urban literacy coalition in the United States. Collaboration, goals, and highlights of HRC milestones are discussed. (NKA)