WILLIAMSBURG — Literacy for Life, a local nonprofit that promotes adult literacy, has expressed concern over the loss of federal grant funding, which provides 20% of its annual budget.
Literacy for Life has been serving Greater Williamsburg since 1975 and recently expanded into Newport News and Hampton. It says the number of people it helps roughly 1,100 people across the peninsula.
The core of Literacy for Life’s services caters to adults aged 18 to 85 in reading, writing, math and English language acquisition. Last year, it said it helped people from 64 different countries, spanning 44 different languages. It said that over the years, federal funding has primarily helped to address the needs of English language learners, adding that while it also serves native English speakers, it hasn’t been eligible for grant funding to serve that group.
In addition to its core services, Literacy for Life also provides classes and works with about 250 volunteer tutors across the peninsula.
“An individual can come to us and they may really want a driver’s license but they need to improve their English in order to pass the exam and so we can teach them the driver’s license manual, help them learn English in the context of studying for the driver’s license. We do that with citizenship. We do that with the GED. We do that with workforce certification programs,” said Jason Thornton, the Executive Director for Literacy for Life.
Thornton noted that the federal funding it receives allows the organization to build its capacity, and amounts to $240,000 that is awarded through grants.
“The skills that these folks lack are associated with their ability to have living wage jobs to secure living wage employment,” Thornton noted.
A fact sheet, provided by Literacy for Life from National-Coalition-Literacy, says that individuals with high school credentials earn about $10,000 more annually than those without. It adds that roughly half of the U.S.’s adult immigrants report that they speak English “less than very well,” yet by 2030, nearly one in five U.S. workers will be an immigrant.
“The things we do are critically important, not just for the learners that we’re serving, but also for our economy and our communities,” said Thornton.
The current federal budget proposes to fully cut adult education funding.
While Literacy for Life would continue to deliver its services, the funding cut would affect the capacity in which those services can be delivered and how many people can be helped, as most of the money went to building staff.
For more information about Literacy for Life and how to volunteer, visit its official website.
