FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. is a recipient of the President's Volunteer Action Award.
FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC . is a statewide, non-profit, 501 (c)3 tax-exempt organization. All donations are tax deductible.
PO.BOX 1504, Laurel Springs, N.J. 08021
Caryl Mackin-Wagner
Co-founder & Executive Director
WHO WE ARE:
FOCUS ON LI'T'RACY. INC. is a volunteer non-profit 501 (c) tax exempt organization. It is the ONLY New Jersey based Statewide literacy and ESL provider and the service is provided without a fee. It is the largest independent literacy agency in New Jersey and has provided information and referrals to the entire USA. Established in 1981; it has over 53,000 people involved with the organization. It is affiliated with (3) International Literacy groups, (7) National Programs and was given the PRESIDENT'S VOLUNTEER ACTION AWARD from former President George H. Bush in 1989.
FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. has been member of many committees and commissions including: Governor's Task Force on Volunteerism, Governor's State Council for Literacy and Education Services, Project Literacy US with PBS and ABC, Literacy Advisory Committee, the Human Service Council, School Board of Education, Library Board of Directors, Workforce Investment Board through the Department of Labor, steering committee for NJ READS, Healthy Families Commission and served on President Clinton's Summit for America's Future.
FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. is the recipient of many additional awards from distinguished organizations such as: Welfare Association, West Jersey Reading Association, International Literacy Association, Rotary International, Camden County Commission on Women, NJ Association for Life Long Learning, NJ Reading Association as well as citations from both the NJ State Senate and Assembly.
ABOUT ILLITERACY:
The state legislature requested we provide a study on illiteracy. In New Jersey, of the 8 million residents, there are between 2.5 and 2.8 million over the age of 16 who are not capable of being self sufficient to care for themselves or their families. Children who come from families of non-readers will likely follow that trend. Additionally, according to studies, one third of children in the 3rd grade, are not able to read at this level, and if left un-addressed will fall further behind potentially becoming our future illiterate adults costing the taxpayer more for assistance and perpetuating the cycle.
Illiteracy costs us billions of dollars annually for lost revenue, welfare, unemployment, insurance and crime. 70 % of the unemployed have reading problems and 85% of the incarcerated have turned to crime as a means of survival due to the inability to read and thereby were not in a position to hold suitable and meaningful employment. The money spent for some charities may be needless, as many are in existence due to the population's inability to read and to be employed, paying their fair share of taxes. Illiteracy affects all genders, races and socio-economic groups. Illiteracy is everyone's responsibility and burden.
NETWORKING:
The majority of the work FOCUS ON LI'TERACY, INC. provides is through groups, businesses, agencies, state departments and schools seeking our assistance as we provide training and materials to organizations. Donations help us underwrite our expenses. The recipients determine in what capacity we can be of value to their clientele and they may request training from us for staff personnel, literate clients or literate employees who can act as peer tutors and mentors for illiterate clients or illiterate employees or they may choose to recruit new volunteers from the community to meet their needs. All ages, genders and demographics have been addressed through this approach. Some of these programs have been: Goodwill Industries, the Board of Social Services, Volunteers of America, The Hispanic Family Center, Welfare Association, Project Self Sufficiency, PATH, Retired Senior Volunteers Program, The Asian Learning Center, NAACP, Jewish Family Services, Girls Scouts of America, Salvation Army, Association for Retarded Citizens, REACH, Family Self Sufficiency, Superior Court of New Jersey, schools and universities, ARCHWAY, police departments, Youth Empowerment System, NJ State Departments of Corrections, Labor, Education, Community Affairs and Human Services, church, community, youth and service groups, hospitals, soup kitchens, other literacy programs, federal agencies including HUD as well as many businesses such as WAL-MART, Home Depot, the casino industry and manufacturers. Sylvan Learning Centers have referred clients who were unsuccessful in their program and there has been support from some businesses who have been active and involved by helping us reach the community such as AAA and BORDERS Book Stores and Barnes & Noble Booksellers.
STUDENTS & VOLUNTEERS:
Focus On Literacy trains groups of average caring individuals as young as 9 years of age through adults, associated with programs, schools and businesses to instruct and assist those who seek help for the basic skills of reading and writing who are also associated with the same identified organizations asking for assistance. The volunteers can be caseworkers, literate clientele, parents, siblings, relatives, classmates, teachers, employees, business associates, or individuals who have been recruited from the community by the organization benefiting from our service. All information is maintained as private and confidential.
Volunteers need not have prior teaching experience nor special education, but volunteers are trained by us to use a variety of methods to instruct a client. This allows the volunteer the ability to tailor the lessons in a flexible manner to accommodate the needs, abilities and goals of the individual students. It is expected all parties to have respect and consideration for each other well as to extend courtesy.
Meetings of the adult volunteer and student are on a one-to-one basis, at least once weekly for approximately l to l.5 hours. Day, time, and location for tutorial lessons are decided by the student/tutor pair if the program they are associated with has not provided a facility for them.
Meetings for children associated with a school or youth organization are established by the school administration or youth facilitator. Follow ups with Focus On Literacy, Inc can be scheduled to address any questions or problems that may arise once the children begin working together, however the program or school overseeing the literacy project is permitted and encouraged to direct it to fit their needs. All students whether they are adults or children must have the desire to learn and be willing to make a commitment to be available regularly. The age ranges from 7 to 105.
There isn't any way to determine how long will take to teach someone to read and write or how long for someone to learn. To become a competent reader depends on the individual's level of entry into this program. It is also dependent on several factors such as the amount of basic knowledge retained from previous schooling, the amount of time and effort that is applied, and whether the new learner is experiencing a perceptual problem or a mild learning disability. The latter does not mean the student is uneducable, but only that it will take a little longer to learn. The method of instruction remains the same. FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. has had students who obtained their goals in only a few months, while others have been instructed for several years. This example is proof for the necessity for tailoring lessons to the individual needs, abilities and goals. Being patient and not expecting too much of each other is paramount to success. The techniques can also be utilized for ESL.
TRAINING:
FOCUS ON LTTERACY, INC. utilizes our own copy-righted training materials which are provided FREE at the conclusion of our literacy training class. They are a diverse compilation of methods and techniques from a variety of educational sources. A choice of alternative measures are available in instruction to ensure teaching and learning success because not everyone learns in the same manner.
Training is conducted in five hours and allows for volunteer interaction. The session can be modified to accommodate any schedule during weekdays, evenings or weekends. It is adjusted according to the maturation and education level of the group being trained. Focus On Literacy, Inc. is a Professional Development Provider for the State Dept. of Ed. re-training teachers to deal with illiteracy in the classroom.
RESOURCE CENTER:
FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. has a Resource Center which is available to any literacy volunteer and his/her student regardless of group affiliation. The material is low level high interest reading geared toward the new learner. The Center contains books, magazines, newspapers, on all subject matter. The traditional spelling, vocabulary, comprehension books are available as well as novels and coping skills books such as health care, insurance, legal information and "How To Books". We have chosen several SITES and donated a selection of these books to make the materials more accessible to volunteers and their students.
FUNDING :
FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. has been funded through the NJ State Department of Education, State Department of Community Affairs, State Department of Human Services, State of New Jersey and the Federal Government. Other financial sources are from corporate grants and county contracts. FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. is grateful for the many donations and contributions from the Private and Public Sector and generous individual community groups.
JULY 2nd, NATIONAL LITERACY DAY
FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. is responsible for the establishment of July 2nd National Literacy Day and is credited with this achievement in the Congressional Record and in the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The day was accomplished through petitioning Congressman James Florio, who was able to sponsor the Congressional Resolution. US Senator Frank Lautenberg carried the Senatorial Resolution thereby completing the Joint Resolution. Succeeding; Congressional and Senatorial members have annually continued the process.
FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. contacted literacy groups nationwide to inform them of the pending legislation. The Bill has passed unanimously every year since 1986. A PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION was signed into law by President Reagan and every sitting President since that time.
The need for National Literacy Day is to express our thanks to Volunteers and to encourage those who could benefit from our free and private service. The shame is not being illiterate, the shame is not doing something about it. July 2nd, has special significance, it is the actual date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and it is also the date the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed. People who can't read can't practice their freedoms or rights, due to their lack of education. July 2nd is also the anniversary of FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC.. In conjunction with National Literacy Day, all NJ's Governors have proclaimed July "Literacy Awareness Month".
RECOGNITION:
FOCUS ON LITERACY, INC. has received national attention from the media for its work from such notables as 60 Minutes, ABC and NBC networks, Warner Brothers, Mademoiselle and Harper's Bazaar Magazines.
ADDITIONAL LITERACY AFFILIATIONS:
America's Promise
The Business Council for Effective Literacy
Coalition for Literacy
Contact Literacy
Goodwill Industries
Hispanic Family Services
HUD
Jewish Family Services
Laubach Literacy International
Literacy Volunteers of America
NAACP
National Center for Family Literacy
National Governors' Association
National Institute for Literacy
Network
NJ Association for Life Long Learning
NJ Chamber of Commerce
NJ Department of State
NJ Education Association
New Jersey READS
New Jersey Reading Association
NJ Library Association
NJ State Department of Community Affairs
NJ State Department of Correction
NJ State Department of Education
NJ State Department of Labor
NJ State Library
Project Literacy US
Pro-Literacy Worldwide
Push Literacy Action Now
UNESCO
US Department of Education
The United Way |
