WHY CHOOSE LITERACY AS A PROFESSION?
"It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference." – Tom Brokaw
I've been asked in the past why I chose the profession I'm in. Never an easy question to answer. I have a master's degree (in Counseling and Education). As a high school graduate, I was offered a full ride to the General Motors Institute. That path would have provided a life-long, lucrative career in the automotive industry. I was one of a handful of original employees at Autodesk. I try not to think of the lucrative stock I would've had :( I've had a successful psychotherapy practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist. I've been a Community College counselor and an international school counselor in Kuwait.
So why did I choose to work with low-literacy adults and their families? It wasn't for the money or the prestige. I passed those up by resigning from my previous jobs. It wasn't for a forty-hour week or good pension benefits. Ever try to run a nonprofit on a forty work week? Hah! Again, I let that go with my other jobs.
So, why did I end up running a literacy nonprofit for the past 20 plus years? In reflection, I've felt a deep sense of making a difference and of joy in assisting low-literacy, often low-income, adults achieve the literacy skills that give them a positive path forward. This path may be to a better job, a college certificate/degree, a better health outcome, a more stable financial plan, or a better community, politically engaged member. And also, I was always moved to see their children wanting to be educated and go to college because they were proud of their mom or dad's example.
To riff on our Literacyworks Center motto: Literacy is changing lives. Literacy creates real lifelong change. That's why I choose a profession in literacy education.
Paul
6 FACTS ABOUT LITERACY IN AMERICA
AND ONE MYTH
1. As of 2011, America was the only free-market OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) country where the current generation was less educated than the previous one. (Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy. "Reach Higher, America Overcoming Crisis in The U.S. Workforce." National Commission on Adult Literacy.)
2. Nearly 85% of the juveniles who face trial in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate, proving a close relationship between illiteracy and crime. More than 60% of all inmates are functionally illiterate. (Blankenship, John. "Functional illiteracy continues to grow, but there is help.")
3. It is estimated between $106–$238 billion in health care costs a year are linked to low adult literacy skills. Adults with limited health literacy are hospitalized and use emergency services significantly higher than those with higher skills. (Vernon, J. A., Trujillo, A., Rosenbaum, S. & DeBuono, B. (2007, October). Low health literacy: Implications for national health policy. Health Sciences Research Commons).
4. 43 million adults in the United States can't read above a third-grade level. That means that 1 in 7 people have literacy issues. If you're surprised, you're not alone. 79% of adults said they don't know an adult with this issue. (Adult Literacy in the United States. 2019, July).
5. The U.S. has—by far—the world's largest immigrant population, holding about one-in-five of the world's immigrants. Among immigrants ages 5 and older in 2018, only half (53%) are proficient English speakers. This severely limits their access to jobs, college, and citizenship and increases their vulnerability to living in poverty. Pew Research estimates that between 2015 and 2065, immigrants and their descendants are projected to increase the U.S. population by 103 million people.
6. There are countless reasons why people attend literacy programs.
They attended low-quality schools/poorly funded schools.
They dropped out of school because of events out of their control. Such events as needed to become the primary earner for the family, for example.
They struggled with undiagnosed learning impairments.
They fell behind early and never caught up. "Sixty-six percent of all U.S. fourth-graders scored 'below proficient on the 2013 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) reading test."
MYTH: "We have more important issues to worry about, like health care, unemployment, the economy, or who our next president will be."
Fact: People with low literacy skills are four times more likely to have poor health (two times higher than the national average). Refer to the health costs above.
Fact: Adults with low literacy levels are twice as likely to be unemployed. How do you fix it? If half of the dropouts from the class of 2008 had graduated, there would be an additional 30,000 new jobs! Imagine if that happened every year.
Fact: Americans with low literacy levels are less likely to be politically engaged or understand what is going on in politics. Do you want to get things done? Give people the tools to really understand the importance of the political process, and we all might be a little less frustrated after every fourth November.
THE CENTER IS CHANGING LIVES AND THE NEED IS GREAT
SOME PROGRAMS PROVIDE JUST A BAND-AID, BUT THE CENTER CREATES REAL LIFELONG CHANGE
As we reflect on the past six years of the Literacyworks Center program, several students stand out for their persistence and achievement. Here are a few of their stories.
A mother trying to complete her GED after having a difficult time in high school achieved her goal. After five years, she is preparing to be transferred to a pharmacy program.
Another student entered the program taking English as Second Language classes. He quickly improved his English skill and began taking credit classes with an emphasis on science. He graduated from SRJC and transferred to UC Santa Crus, majoring in physics. He completed his first year taking classes remotely due to the pandemic. Now he is in his senior year taking classes in person. He will graduate next Spring.
A young mother of two demonstrated confidence and determination in the very first Literacyworks Center workshop she attended.
She came to the United States at an early age speaking no English. She describes how she realized that if she wanted to get ahead and create a comfortable life for herself and her family, she would have to learn English and did. College classes were challenging, but she worked extremely hard. Now, after five years in the Center's program, she is applying to nursing school. We are confident she will get there.
A young man struggled in high school, almost not making it to graduation. He found his way to SRJC and the Literacyworks program. He attended part-time while working to support himself.
He progressively took on a leadership role on campus in the student service area, which allowed him to help other students find value in education and the college community. He graduated from the JC two years ago and transferred to UC Berkeley with a full scholarship. He graduated with honors while attending remotely. His goal is to get a Ph.D. in Sociology and give back to the Santa Rosa Latinx community.
Literacyworks Center has awarded over 1100 adult literacy scholarships to students in the program in the first six years.
Each individual's story is one of persistence, hard work, and determination. It has been a great honor to serve this remarkable group of people as they strive to achieve their goals.
THE ASK
So, we have stated our case of why literacy matters and, by extension, why our students deserve your continued financial support.
It takes $3,000 a year to enable a Center student to reach their goals and stay in school for a full academic year. We do whatever it takes to help our adults succeed in college, but we can't do it without you. Your gift of any amount creates meaningful change for our students, families, and their communities. All of our adults are low-income, low-literacy members of our community and are the first in their family to go to college. Many are parents. Their perseverance in reaching their educational goals encourages their children to excel in school and follow their example to attend college.
We can’t succeed without your help. Please donate to Literacyworks.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – Dr. Seuss
