Literacy: Spanning the U.S.
Funding tight for literacy
Daily Union: 3.10.2016 by Pam
Chickering Wilson
The Jefferson
County Literacy Council continues to grow, serving a vital
need in area communities, with 2015 having been its biggest year yet.
However, the nonprofit has placed
a hold on further growth due to a tight budget, as grant funding has remained
the same over the past six years while costs have gone up.
JCLC director Lynn Forseth said that the
organization will be applying for new and reorganized grant funding in the
coming year in hopes of receiving additional monies to provide adult literacy
and related services in the local area.
“This last year, the JCLC served
the highest number of people it ever has,” Forseth said. “But in terms of
funding, we are struggling. For six years, we’ve received the same level of
federal funding, and the little we get from the county has not changed. We’ve
had to make the decision to hold the line at where we are now until we get more
funding. For the first time, we’ve actually started to put people on waiting
lists.”
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This year marks the 15th
anniversary of the JCLC’s official organization as a nonprofit. However, the
group first coordinated on an informal basis, the brainchild of librarians from
Watertown, Lake Mills, Waterloo and Fort Atkinson.
“They had seen people coming to
the library seeking to improve their reading skills, and they recognized that a
need existed within the community,” Forseth said. “So they organized some
volunteers to help.” READ MORE @
YMCA
Of Greater Hartford Ending Read To Succeed Adult Literacy Program
Hartford Courant: 3.09.2016 by
Vinny Vella
When
the Rev. David Hendricks' kids were younger, he had to generate a litany of
excuses whenever they'd ask for help with their homework.
He
had a headache. He was too tired. He was busy with work of his own.
It
wasn't that he was unwilling to help; he simply couldn't. At the time,
Hendricks, then in his early 40s, didn't know how to read.
And
he says he stayed that way, stunted in his interactions with the world, until
he enrolled in the YMCA of
Greater Hartford's Read to Succeed program, which boosts
literacy skills in adult learners.
After
three years in the program, taking classes at night at the Downtown Hartford
YMCA while juggling shifts at CT Transit and studying for theological school,
Hendricks graduated. A few years after that milestone, he graduated again, this
time from Capital Community College with a degree in urban community
counseling.
"If I didn't go to Read to
Succeed, I wouldn't be where I am today," Hendricks said. "It gave me
the motivation and ambition to move forward in my life."
He was devastated to learn
Wednesday that, after nearly 30 years and hundreds of students, Read to Succeed
will graduate its final class in June.
"It's a great loss for our
community, especially those who are trying their best to pull themselves up by
their bootstraps and be educated in a more firm and direct way," said
Hendricks, who was inspired by Read to Succeed to start Voices of Connecticut
Adult Learners, his own advocacy group for adult literacy. READ MORE @
Ecuador
native learns English from Hamilton nonprofit, gets promoted
NJ.com: 3.10.2016 by Lindsay Rittenhouse
Four
years ago, after moving to Hightstown from Ecuador, Adriana Toledo would walk
around grocery stores confused and frustrated by her inability to read the
labels and signs in English.
With
the help of tutors from Literacy New Jersey's Hamilton office, the 34-year-old
mother of two can now shop for her family with ease, talk to her children's
teachers with confidence and she's even secured a promotion and raise at her
job.
"I've
never seen anybody who puts so much into it," Toledo's tutor Ken
Fredericks said of Toledo. "She is very determined to get ahead."
Literacy
New Jersey said four years ago Toledo's father-in-law, a U.S.
citizen who lives in Mercer County, encouraged her and her husband Fabian
Avilla to come to America.
The
nonprofit said Toledo and Avilla soon did. Toledo got a job unloading trucks in
a toy company warehouse and Avilla works as a machine operator.
"In
the warehouse I would like to understand better what they are saying,"
Toledo told Literacy New Jersey. She spent two years learning with the
nonprofit.
Before
moving to Mercer County, she had already earned a bachelor's degree in Ecuador
and was working for the government there.
"I
would like to contribute something but I didn't speak English well,"
Toledo said. "I felt I needed to improve my job." READ MORE @
Solano
library literacy program honors hard work, dedication
Daily Republic: 3.13.2016 by Susan Hiland
One
of the cornerstones in life is good communication. Whether it be the spoken
word or the written language, communication is the key to becoming a success.
Participants
in the Solano Adult Literacy Program know that
all too well.
Adult
participants in the literacy program took on many challenges to accomplish
personal goals and were celebrated Saturday at the Solano County Events Center
for their achievements during the library’s annual literacy celebration.
Program
participants, as part of a program called Writers to Writers, were asked to
write letters to authors whose books touched them in some personal way.
This
year’s top participants included Gloria Mejia of Fairfield, Haydeh Zaravar of
Vacaville, Eufrosina Ruiz of Rio Vista and Ana Noriega of Vallejo. READ MORE @
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Collaboration
serves community best
Times Record News: 3.16.2016
"No
matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you." —Althea Gibson
Today
I will take on a little different approach to my column because this column
will be a collaboration of three agencies. Why, you ask? I believe it is
important to show the community how three agencies working together cannot only
get the biggest bang for the collective dollars in our community but also show
how collaborations can have a huge impact on a community. I have asked WALC's
two strongest collaborative partners, Mona Statser, the executive director of Workforce
Solutions, and Octaviano Garza, Region 9 Adult Education coordinator, to
show the community how our collaborations serve the community without competing
for funding or clients and without duplicating services.
I
am Sara Shelton, the director of the Wichita Adult Literacy Council,
Inc. (WALC) for over 20 years. We live in a great community that offers many
opportunities through the diversity and collaboration of resources. Workforce
Solutions and Region 9 Adult Education have been partners with us for years in
our attempt to help citizens in our community become independent through
education and in the job market.
WALC
began as a collaborative effort in 1982 under the direction of Region 9
Education Service Center because many of the clients in the Region 9 Adult
Education GED classes did not have the reading skills to obtain a GED;
therefore, one-on-one tutoring became a need for these clients. WALC also
offers Region 9 ESL and/or GED classes at the Galaxy site where WALC is
located. Workforce Solutions is our local Texas Workforce Commission's
workforce center where WALC is co-located. WALC has partnered with Workforce
Solutions for many years and in many capacities. READ MORE @
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