Literacy affects all of us. Two in five workers in the American workplace have inadequate literacy skills. The resulting inefficiency costs American businesses an estimated $225 billion a year in lost productivity. Nationally, excess hospital costs directly attributable to illiteracy run $8 billion to $15 billion a year. More than 80,000 adults in Greater Lansing are functionally illiterate.

Adults                
I received a call from the manager of a local business. She has an excellent employee—customers like him, he is always on time, reliable and follows directions. The manager wants to promote him or at least expand his responsibilities. The employee has been declining a promotion, but finally the facts are revealed: He has very limited reading and writing skills. “Will you help him?” the manager asked. Of course, we will. We welcome the opportunity to work with area employers.
The preceding account is typical of the calls received at the Capital Area Literacy Coalition (CALC). Today’s workplace requires much higher literacy skills than in the past. Most adults go to great lengths to conceal their limited reading abilities. Richard, a former student, now has excellent skills; but until a workplace injury resulted in revealing his low reading abilities, he kept his secret from friends, family and his employer.
Offering free, one-on-one, confidential assistance, CALC recruits volunteers to be trained as literacy instructors. Adults needing help are interviewed as to their interests and given diagnostic tests. An instructional plan is written for each adult and given to his or her tutor. When possible the plan includes vocabulary and concepts from the student’s workplace and uses workplace materials for the student to read and complete the writing or computation tasks. The use of practical materials fosters motivation and learning. In addition, students may use computer programs in our learning center.
When the student is a parent, unlimited quantities of children’s books are given to the family. If parents want to read to their children, tutors include this assistance in the instructional sessions.
The Lansing area is welcoming the largest number of refugees and immigrants at any time in the last 100 years. This population has endured severe privations, including losing loved ones. They appreciate America and work hard, as did many of our forebears. Learning to speak English is critical for our new neighbors. CALC trains instructors to help these refugees and immigrants learn English and pass the citizenship test.
Every summer for the past 16 years, the coalition has provided basic literacy and English language instruction for migrant workers and their families. Our tutors work at three to four locations in the Greater Lansing area.
Adults may enroll in our free GED programs. Pre-GED and regular GED services are available at convenient times. Many students have problems with transportation, childcare or work schedules and have difficulty attending regular classes.  

Children
Calls from parents worried about their children’s low achievement in reading receive special attention. Our Read to Succeed program recruits tutors for training in literacy instruction for children who are below grade level in reading or writing. We give priority for children from low-income families. At each Read to Succeed location (schools, churches, libraries, community centers) we have a site supervisor for the one-on-one instructional teams. Two coordinators provide initial and ongoing instruction for tutors, and they give each child pre- and post-tests. Instruction and testing are free. This professional program uses scientific research findings in literacy.
Read to Succeed is recognized for documented reading gains. The Read to Succeed Literacy Tutor’s Manual  is published by Prentice-Hall. The program is approved by the Michigan Department of Education as a provider of services under the No Child Left Behind Act. Being approved means that a provider has a demonstrated record of effectiveness in increasing student academic achievement.

Children and teens
The Family School Partnership (FSP) employs teens to work with younger children in CALC enrichment programs located in five public-supported housing centers. Multilevel, thematic units on science, literature, geography, writing and other areas appeal to children, K-5.
FSP meets after school and late afternoons, during the summer. The teens have one or two supervisors at each site. Teens are required to follow work rules as well as school and family rules. The FSP coordinator guides the teens in career exploration and gives them information about colleges and other training opportunities. In 16 years none of the FSP teens has dropped out of school. Many enter the program as children, go on to become teen tutors and later, site supervisors. The current coordinator took this route.

Children’s book drop
More than 400,000 children’s books have been collected and distributed to children in our programs and to other agencies serving children from low income families. Only books in new to like-new condition are given to the children.

Other programs
CALC helps parents of preschool children prepare for kindergarten, trains homework helpers and gives vision screening.
The coalition is committed to providing the Greater Lansing community with high-quality literacy services. For more information, call 517-485-4949.

		Lois A. Bader, professor at Michigan State University and volunteer executive director of  the Capital Area Literacy Coalition, has created literacy programs providing free, high-quality instruction for more than 5,000 children, teens and adults in the capital area. Bader designed literacy and communication programs for the U.S. Marine Corps in Asia and vocational and workplace programs for the U.S. Army in Europe. She has been an educational consultant in 15 countries.