By Paul Heavenridge | Founder/Executive Director
Literacyworks provides dynamic resources and opportunities that give adults, families and children a foundation for lifelong learning and achievement.
Basic literacy and numeracy skills are critical to individuals’ prosperity and well-being. They drive community vitality and economic growth. Yet, 25% of Californians have very low literacy skills, and nearly one in five have not earned a high school diploma or equivalent. This group includes large number of low-wage workers and English language learners.
The Literacyworks Center is coordinating and strengthening remaining educational opportunities ensuring learners access the appropriate resources and move seamlessly between programs as their skills develop. It is promoting community awareness and volunteerism, strengthen links between career education and the local economy, and create stronger pipelines for employers seeking qualified workers and learners seeking good jobs.
During its first year, the Literacyworks Center has demonstrated how to successfully assist underserved, low basic skilled adults succeed and persist in a college program. Traditionally, 60% of these students would dropout. The Center will disseminate the findings to colleges and job training programs across the Bay Area, CA and the Country. The Center is assisting our students in achieving their goals by providing face-to-face personalized support, long-term educational counseling and performance-based scholarships to break persistence barriers such as transportation, childcare, and tuition.
This year Literacyworks received special Congressional recognition by Congressman Jared Huffman on the opening of our new Santa Rosa Junior College classroom saying “Your collective work to ensure that all individuals have the skills, support and opportunities to thrive in a complex and inter-connected world through literacy is making a positive difference in many, many lives. Thank you for your effective programs and generosity of spirit, and congratulations on your grand opening.”
Completing training more than doubles lifetime incomes producing many benefits to the community: increased tax revenue, lower healthcare costs, stronger parenting skills, and greater civic engagement.
The Center is investing deeply in highly motivated learners’ futures, bringing together bilingual face-to-face and digitally enabled personalized support, long-term educational counseling and performance based scholarships to break persistence barriers such as transportation, childcare, and tuition. The Center is working with adult schools, library literacy programs and community college systems, coordinating resources and promoting best practices in adult education.
Literacyworks understands that persistence “drivers” include a sense of belonging and community, clarity of purpose, competence, relevance, and stability. The Center’s success formula includes these drivers of persistence to create positive outcomes for our students.
Building on the Center’s success in Year One (the Center reached its target enrollment number of 76 hard to serve students for the 2016 Spring Semester and now has a waiting list for Fall 2016 semester), we plan to increase enrollment to 100 students and increase collaboration with additional referring partners that will include veteran groups.
Two of the country's most underserved populations are veterans and unemployed people. Please help us provide those most in need with the literacy skills to last a lifetime.
THANK YOU!
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