Literacy In The News ::
Spanning the US
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Madison 365: 4.23.2021 by Mackenzie Krumme
Alejandra Muñoz Contreras started at the Literacy Network when
it was just a small building on Park Street on Madison’s south side.
Today, she, along with the organization, has
grown into a new role and position. In April, she was promoted to the student
services manager where she is a resource and a guide for the 1,000 adults that
use the center each year. The building where she is now is still on Park
Street, but is two stories high, with 10 classrooms, a large lobby and a
library.
Muñoz Contreras started at the network in
2015 while she was applying for citizenship. She said it is a rigorous process
that involves many tests including reading, writing, pronunciation and filling
out legal documents like a 128-question questionnaire.
Muñoz Contreras came to the U.S from Mexico
16 years ago. She has lived in Colorado, and Tennessee before making her way to
Wisconsin. It was a goal of hers when she came to Wisconsin in 2013 to become a
citizen; and now she gets to help others obtain those same goals. READ MORE ➤➤
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Wis Business: 4.23.2021
Have you ever thought about how hard it would
be to live your everyday life if you didn’t know how to read, write or speak
English?
Literacy affects every aspect of life and
directly impacts our ability to work, care for our families by providing food
and shelter, secure safe transportation, and even understand health care
information, including health insurance coverage.
The Portage County Literacy Council
(PCLC) in Stevens Point works with adults who want to improve their reading,
writing and/or math skills. They offer one-on-one tutoring and small group
sessions free of charge to people with all kinds of socioeconomic and
racial/ethnic backgrounds throughout Portage County – including immigrants and
refugees learning English, and native speakers with a learning difference, lack
of education, or any other reason.
Security Health Plan of Wisconsin, Inc.,
along with Marshfield Clinic Health
System, recently donated funds
to PCLC, most of which will go directly toward the costs of running their
adults tutoring programs.
“We are very thankful for our community
partners, like Marshfield Clinic Health System and Security Health Plan, whose
generous donation will go directly towards supporting PCLC programs and
services. We could not do this work without them!” said Shannon O’Donnell,
Co-Director of the PCLC.
PCLC helps adult learners increase their
ability to read and understand materials that can have a huge impact on their
family’s health and wellness. A person’s ability to read and write in English
in order to understand health care information is directly linked to their
health outcomes and costs. ProLiteracy, the
largest adult literacy and basic education membership organization in the
nation, reports that over $230 billion in health care costs each year are
linked to low adult literacy. READ
MORE ➤➤
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Dayton 247 Now: 4.24.2021 by Allison Walker
The United States started the first public
education system in the world but still, we're faced with a shocking crisis, 43
million, adults in the U.S. can’t read. That's 21 percent of our nation's adult
population. It's a problem non-profit leaders say has hit our community hard
here in Montgomery County. The Brunner literacy center told
me that 1 in 5 adults in the Greater Dayton area are at or below a level 1 literacy level.
“If you're at level 1 you can identify
street signs you may be able to sight-read some basic words but you can't fill
out a job application. You can't do a quick google search and get an answer,
you can't read a prescription label so all of these typical things we might
take for granted in life,” Ashley Lackovich, the executive director of the
Brunner Literacy Center said.
Lackovich explained that this issue is
underreported as many adults develop sophisticated coping skills, so no one
finds out they can't read or write. Still the numbers are staggering-at their
center-they teach around 350 people to read every year.
“If kids have parents who are illiterate
with low levels of literacy no matter what we're doing at the school, those
kids are still statistically more likely to have low levels of literacy
themselves. 43 percent of people with low literacy live in poverty and we also
know it's intergenerational,” Lackovich stated.
Lackovich added that this basic skill is the
root of so many other problems. She shared data that shows illiteracy rates are
costing our healthcare system hundreds of billions of dollars every year since
adults with limited literacy use emergency services at significantly higher
rates. Yet-federal funding for adult literacy programs have been cut 18 % in
the last two decades. WATCH
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