No need to read between lines -- literacy benefits community

Sharon Jallad
Published in The Orlando Sentinel
June 1, 2007

One in every five Central Florida adults reads at or below the fifth-grade level. Many community leaders, business owners and even educators find it shocking that 15 percent of our adult population cannot read at a functionally literate level.

Foster, originally from Jamaica, was one of those adults who couldn't read. But, classes at the Adult Literacy League helped him develop this important skill and become more independent. In fact, he even took and passed his U.S. citizenship test.

When Carmen first came to the Adult Literacy League, her reading skills were at a beginner's level. Now, Carmen is fully literate and is taking math and spelling classes. In addition to improving those skills, she says her confidence and employability have improved, as well.

As the school year draws to a close, our community marks the end of another year spent helping our children learn, grow and read. Yet for thousands of our neighbors, reading doesn't come easy.

From work-force issues to crime to educating our children, adult literacy affects a range of community issues. Literate adults are more likely to retain employment and build a successful career. They are less likely to succumb to a life of crime. Adults who take part in family literacy programs increase the pre-reading skills of their children by more than 70 percent. Children who read with their parents are far more likely to read at the appropriate grade level and graduate from high school.

Here in Central Florida, the Adult Literacy League (ALL) champions this cause. With the help of its dedicated team of volunteers, ALL provides free one-to-one and small-group literacy instruction. ALL also offers family literacy services in partnership with Orange County's Head Start and Community Health Centers.

In 2006, ALL volunteers provided more than 20,000 hours of volunteer service, mainly individual instruction for adults eager to improve their reading or writing skills. The monetary value of these instructional hours is more than $100,000. But it is the volunteers' time and personal interest in the cause that is most precious. For the adult learners and families ALL serves, volunteers provide support and caring that are truly life changing.

As an active volunteer, I know that the benefits of community service are not limited to those who are served. Volunteers experience the fulfillment of making a difference. And that joy is contagious. Volunteers help recruit friends and colleagues to participate in community service. And the children of volunteers are 90 percent more likely to become adults who regularly give back to their communities.

I encourage Central Floridians to support adult-literacy programs through volunteerism. Embrace the opportunity to help a neighbor become a better parent, more self-sufficient worker and participating citizen by helping that person enhance his or her reading.