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| Founded | 1979 |
|---|---|
| Focus | Adult Literacy |
| Location | |
| Website | www.lvillinois.org |
Literacy Volunteers of Illinois (LVI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization [1] that promotes adult literacy throughout Illinois. [2] [3] It serves families, adults, and out-of-school teens.
Literacy Volunteers of Illinois (LVI) was founded in 1979 to serve as a technical assistance and training agency for volunteer literacy programs affiliated with the national Literacy Volunteers of America organization. It initially served as a "mid-level" support system for local affiliated programs with the goal of monitoring and providing training to programs.
The two recessions of the 1980s and the resulting displacement of millions of workers in the manufacturing industry who had difficulty finding new jobs based on their skill sets, sparked concerns about the literacy abilities of the nation’s population. The National Literacy Act of 1991 [4] and the results of the National Adult Literacy Survey of 1993, [5] which found that one in every four adults lacked basic literacy skills, also brought attention to the issue of low adult literacy rates in the U.S.
The national recognition of a need for adult literacy initiatives helped it earn funding for AmeriCorps VISTA and AmeriCorps National Service Programs that place members in adult and family literacy programs around Illinois. In 1995 the Jump Start Program began, which recruits volunteers to act as tutors and mentors for incarcerated youth in the Illinois Youth Centers. LVI began by working with four national programs. Today, it provides resources and services to staff, tutors, and students in approximately 100 adult literacy programs statewide. [3]
LVI serves as a clearinghouse for individuals interested in becoming volunteer tutors by connecting them with literacy programs in their communities. They also provide initial and in-service training to tutors and staff, an annual statewide staff development conference, and the annual tutor and adult learner On The Road To Literacy Spring conference. [6]
Since 1992, LVI has sponsored five different federal and state AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps VISTA programs. These programs include the VISTA Literacy Corps, Project UPLIFT (Urging Partnerships in Literacy Initiatives for Families and Teens), Project I-CARE (Involving Communities in America Reads Endeavors), Project HEART (Hines Employees As Reading Tutors), and the current VOCAL (Volunteer Action in Community Literacy) Program. LVI has placed over 600 national service members in 150 adult, family literacy, and Head Start Programs throughout Illinois. [7]
LVI began its involvement in national service programs in 1992 as a sponsor of the AmeriCorps VISTA Literacy Corps. AmeriCorps*VISTA is a federally funded capacity building program that serves primarily low-income communities. With the goal of strengthening and expanding volunteer literacy initiatives in under served communities in Illinois LVI placed over 100 VISTA Literacy Corps members in a variety of adult and family literacy programs over the course of 15 years.
Sponsorship of the AmeriCorps VISTA Literacy Corps eventually led to involvement in the AmeriCorps Program. Project UPLIFT, a collaboration on behalf of five agencies, was the first AmeriCorps Program that was developed. Members provided adult and family literacy services in communities served by the five agencies. It also acted as an incubator for two additional AmeriCorps Programs that became funded on their own – one at the Center for School Improvement at the University of Chicago and Project MORE at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
VOCAL AmeriCorps
VOCAL (Volunteer Outreach for Community Action in Literacy) was founded by LVI in 2003 with funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service and is currently in its 10th year. Since its inception, 331 AmeriCorps Members have served as "literacy specialists" in 40 different community and faith based adult literacy programs in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. [8] [9] Their roles include One-to-one and small group tutoring, recruiting volunteers to serve as tutors, and participating in a training and development program. [10]
The Jump Start Program is a one-to-one tutoring and mentorship program operating in the Illinois Youth Centers (IYC) in the new department of Juvenile Justice. The program began in 1995 with a three-year grant from the Retirement Research Foundation and support from the Illinois Retired Teachers Association. The Program continues to recruit retirees, especially retired teachers, with the skills to serve as volunteer tutors and mentors to incarcerated youth. LVI continues to work closely with School District #428 of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice in its efforts to raise the literacy levels of incarcerated youth. [11]
Jump Start serves youth incarcerated in IYCs in Chicago, Harrisburg, St. Charles and Warrenville. The target population of Jump Start is teens age 17 and over who are performing below a 9th grade level in reading and/or math. Jump Start tutors focus not only on academics, but also serve as mentors in order to address the emotional and social needs of at-risk youth. [12]
New Readers for New Life is a network of past and current adult literacy students. LVI provides consultation, training, and administrative support to the statewide organization. It also encourages students to be active participants in all phases of the learning process from choosing the materials they want to read to taking leadership roles within their programs. Every fall the New Readers organization sponsors a statewide conference for students, tutors, and staff of adult literacy programs. [13]
The first SCRABBLE for Literacy Challenge was held in the fall of 2004. The annual fundraiser, which is held in October or November, is supported by the National Scrabble Association Local Clubs #240 and #601 and the Rotary Club of Chicago-Lakeview. Participants play one another in Scrabble and also bid on items during a silent auction. [14]
The New Readers Conference began in 1993 by the New Readers for New Life and is held annually in October or November. Over 1,000 individuals from 21 states have attended this event since its inception. This day-long conference is broken into workshops and discussions. [13]
On the Road to Literacy is an annual daylong conference for tutors and adult learners. LVI began organizing the conference in 1995. The conference consists of three rounds of workshops focused on topics relevant to the development of volunteer tutors and adult learners. [15] [16] There is also a featured keynote speaker and a ceremony recognizing outstanding volunteer literacy tutors from around Illinois. Each year awards are presented to the Tutor of the Year as well as the Partner Agency of the Year. [17] [18]
The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) is a human services organization committed to the development of the Arab American community. ACCESS helps low-income families, as well as newly arrived immigrants adapt to life in the United States. Its goal is to foster a greater understanding of Arab culture in the U.S. and in the Arab world. ACCESS provides social, mental health, educational, artistic, employment, legal, and medical services.
National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), or AmeriCorps NCCC is an AmeriCorps program that engages 18- to 24-year-olds in team-based national and community service in the United States. Under the CARES act, however, the maximum age of entry is 26. National Civilian Community Corps teams complete about four different six- to eight-week-long projects during their 10-month term of service. Each team is made up of eight to twelve Corps Members and one Team Leader. Corps Members and Team Leaders are representative of all colors, creeds, states, and economic status. Approximately 1,200 Corps Members and Team Leaders are chosen annually to serve at one of four regional campuses, located in Sacramento, California; Denver, Colorado; Vinton, Iowa; and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Each campus serves as a training center and hub for a multi-state region. Members are required to complete a minimum of 1,700 hours of service, including 80 independent service hours, though members complete an average of 1,850 service hours per term.
AmeriCorps is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through AmeriCorps VISTA, AmeriCorps NCCC, AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps Seniors, the Volunteer Generation Fund, and other national service initiatives. The agency's mission is "to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering." While a government agency, AmeriCorps acts much like a foundation and is the nation's largest annual grant maker supporting service and volunteering. It was created by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. In September 2020, the agency rebranded itself as AmeriCorps, although its official name is unchanged.
AmeriCorps Seniors is a United States government program run by the agency Corporation for National and Community Service. The program engages volunteers aged 55 and older to serve their communities. There are over 200,000 volunteers nationwide.
Youth Service America, or YSA, is a resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people, ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally. YSA has a reputation for supporting and promoting youth voice, youth service, and service-learning through advocacy, resource sharing, and handing out over $1 million in grants. Steve Culbertson was appointed the President & CEO in 1996.
Notre Dame Mission Volunteers is a faith-based non-profit organization founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1992. In 1995, NDMV sought a partnership with AmeriCorps to allow for an increase in the number of members, offering greater community service in financially limited sites. This partnership formed Notre Dame Mission Volunteers AmeriCorps. The program began with 46 service members placed in four communities: Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, and Apopka, Florida. Building on the initial success of these four sites, NDMVA has continued to systematically extend the range and depth of its AmeriCorps program. Notre Dame Mission Volunteers AmeriCorps members serve in seventeen sites across the United States. Notre Dame Mission Volunteers also has a separate international program in which members currently serve in four international sites in Brazil, Haiti, Nigeria, and Peru. Its National Office is currently based out of Baltimore, Maryland.
ACTION was a United States government agency described as "the federal domestic volunteer agency". It was formed July 1, 1971, during President Richard Nixon's first term under the provisions of Reorganization Plan Number One, and Executive Order 11603, June 30, 1971, to provide centralized coordination and administration of Government-sponsored domestic and international volunteer agencies.
Frontier College is a Canadian literacy organization established in 1899 by Alfred Fitzpatrick. Founded as the Reading Camp Association, Frontier College aims to improve literacy levels in Canada by providing education to those who seek assistance with their learning and have been overlooked or left behind by the formal educational system. Frontier College runs a myriad of English-language and French-language literacy programs for children, youth and adults in many places across Canada such as community centres, shelters, farms and prisons. It was renamed Frontier College in 1919. Since 1986, its national headquarters has been located at Gzowski House at 35 Jackes Avenue in Toronto, Ontario.
CaliforniaVolunteers is the state agency charged with increasing the number and impact of Californians engaged in service and volunteering.
The Alameda County Library, in Alameda County, California, is a public library system that provides services from ten branch libraries in the cities of Albany, Dublin, Fremont, Newark and Union City and the unincorporated communities of Castro Valley and San Lorenzo. According to 2005/2006 statistics, the total service area represents a population of about 522,000, and annual circulation is reported to be around 5.5 million. Its headquarters are located in Fremont.
Established in 1985, the Florida Literacy Coalition (FLC) is a nonprofit organization that promotes, supports and advocates for the effective delivery of quality adult and family literacy services in the state of Florida.
Literacy in the United States has increased along with access to education and higher vocational standards. In many nations, the ability to read a simple sentence suffices as literacy, and was the previous standard for the U.S. The definition of literacy has changed greatly; the term is presently defined as the ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act or Serve America Act was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on March 9, 2009, by Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York. Originally titled the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, the bill reauthorizes and expands the AmeriCorps program that was first established in 1993. It passed in the House of Representatives on March 18, 2009. The U.S. Senate debated and approved an amended version of the bill on March 26, 2009, renaming it the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, after Senator Ted Kennedy. The House of Representatives voted on the bill a second time, approving the amended version on March 31, 2009. It was signed by President Barack Obama on April 21, 2009.
AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed to alleviate poverty. President John F. Kennedy originated the idea for VISTA, which was founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, and incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of programs in 1993. VISTA is an acronym for Volunteers in Service to America.
Youth Volunteer Corps,(YVC), is a non-profit service organization operating throughout the United States and Canada that was created to introduce, encourage, and support the spirit of volunteerism in youth ages 11 to 18 through consistent, well-organized volunteer opportunities. It began in 1987 as a single organization in Kansas City, Missouri, sponsored by the Heart of America United Way and was funded by numerous public and private sources.
Ruth Johnson Colvin is the founder of the non-profit organization Literacy Volunteers of America, now called ProLiteracy Worldwide in Syracuse, New York, in 1962. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in December 2006. She turned 100 in December 2016.
Monroe County Public Library (MCPL) serves the 138,000 citizens of Monroe County, Indiana, through the Main Library in downtown Bloomington, the Ellettsville Branch, and the Bookmobile. The library’s special services include the Learn and Play Space, a preschool discovery center; VITAL, an adult literacy program; CATS, a five-channel community access television network; the Indiana Room, a local history and genealogy collection and grants center ; and service to inmates at the Monroe County Correctional Center.
The Serve Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service is a 40-member, bi-partisan board appointed by the Governor. Its mission is to improve Illinois communities by enhancing traditional volunteer activities and supporting national service programs. The Commission is accomplishing this mission through the support of local community-based efforts to enhance volunteer opportunities and the administration of Illinois' AmeriCorps programs.
The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Boynton Beach, Florida. Its stated mission is to improve the quality of life of those residing in and around Palm Beach County, Florida, by promoting and achieving literacy. The ultimate goal of the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County, is to ensure that every child and every adult in Palm Beach County becomes a reader. One in seven adults in Palm Beach County is unable to read and understand information found in books, newspapers, magazines, brochures and manuals. The organization's operates with the assistance of over 9,000 volunteers. In 2013, the Literacy Coalition provided services to more than 25,000 adults, children and families.
Storycatchers Theatre is a nonprofit organization in Chicago, Illinois, that serves adolescents and emerging adults at all stages of court involvement with creative youth development programs. Storycatchers engages groups of young people in the process of writing, producing and performing original musicals inspired by their own personal stories. Meade Palidofsky founded the company in 1984 and has served as its artistic director since its inception.