Adult Literacy group receives $125,000 grant

Kathy Jennings | Thursday, January 9, 2014

Michael Evans / Adult Literacy

The first of a number of grants to promote literacy and learning in the greater Kalamazoo area has been awarded to the Adult Literacy Action Network.

The grant is part of the Learning Network's mission to create a culture of learning at home, in school, at work and throughout the community. The intent is to ensure that all children in Kalamazoo County will be ready for school, post-secondary education, a career, and the world.

The grant of $125,000 to the Adult Literacy Action Network will provide funds for existing adult literacy work being done in the community.

"It also gives us an opportunity to impact other aspects of the continuum, including K-12," says Michael D. Evans, executive director of the Kalamazoo Literacy Council. "Directly at the adult level and indirectly across the continuum, this funding will greatly enhance our collective effectiveness."

Action networks are groups of parents, students and educators who use data and a process of continuous improvement to identify and adopt practices that will move the community toward its goal and collect the data that demonstrates goals are being met as part of a collective impact process that is working to make learning a greater part of the community's culture.

The grant will pay for staffing and support to programs established through previous grants to the Literacy Council to support the Adult Literacy Collaborative, which now serves as the Adult Learning Action Network of The Learning Network.

A community literacy center, parent literacy program, computer class and initial development of a writing curriculum have been previously funded. The most recent grant will allow for the hiring of a person who will coordinate the adult learner's activity between the programs.

"This navigation capability gives us greater ability to serve our adult learners and make a better connection between the adult learning service providers: to better assess what type of needs we have in the community, identify gaps, and to identify resources to fill those gaps," says Evans.

Funding grants for action networks working on kindergarten readiness and for college and career readiness are expected to be forthcoming.

The Learning Network of Greater Kalamazoo is funded by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Tom Vance, Kalamazoo Community Foundation