When I first became involved in human services in Austin, I was startled to learn about the literacy needs in our community. Like most Austinites, I was living in a bubble. I thought that the vast majority of adults in Central Texas were very well educated. In fact, the opposite is true. An even larger segment of our population is functionally illiterate. About one in five working-age adults cannot read or write well enough to fill out a job application, and that does not include the thousands of families who struggle with the English language. This is why the Literacy Coalition was formed. We know the truth about low literacy in the Austin area, and want others to know the truth; to come out of the bubbles we were living in, and do something about this serious issue. The great thing about adult and family literacy is that there actually is a very concrete, doable, and easily realizable solution to the issue. And everyone can do something to help.
- Connect a family in need of literacy services with our referral line: 1-866-518-READ.
- Volunteer to teach English or tutor children or adults in reading
- Make a donation to the LCCT or one of our partner agencies.
- Donate in-kind goods
- Talk to your employer about donating classroom space, or allowing employees time off to volunteer.
- Encourage your friends to visit our web set and learn about local literacy levels- see our snapshot report linked right on the our home page at www.willread.org.
We're excited you joined our blog - get ready for lots of great posts and interesting discussions!
Welcome aboard,
Meg Poag
Executive Director
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