July 3, 2018
Agency Name: Literacy Services of Wisconsin
Agency Mission: Literacy Services of Wisconsin partners with motivated adults to provide access to quality basic education and skills training so they can improve their lives, enrich their families, and strengthen our community.
United Way-funded programs: Adult Basic Education
Founded: 1965, United Way partner since 2012
Issue areas: Financial Stability
Tell us about the community members you serve: Literacy Services serves adults 18.5 or older who are seeking to improve their education and earn a high school credential so they can get a job, get a better job, keep the job they have or go on to post-secondary education or training. People tell us they use our programs because they are provided in the community where they work or live and because we have multiple options and program delivery options to meet their needs, goals and schedule. Since our merger with Milwaukee Achiever on July 1, 2017 we have worked with more than 1100 adults at our eight Milwaukee locations to help them achieve their education and work readiness goals!
Here is a bunch of fun facts from the last quarter:
- David changed his own furnace by reading instructions and saved over $300.
- Theresa designed and built a website for her hair styling business.
- Patricia now leads a Bible study group and a Sunday school class at her church.
- Hilaria became a U.S. citizen.
- Yannick has been accepted into UWM.
- Esperanza learned the order of adjectives.
- Pah and his tutor Carol visited the library so he could get a library card.
- Saul & Linda both got jobs.
- Pamela has perfect attendance this semester.
- Dongshen, a former ELL student, communicated that he was able to attain his dream job in Silicon Valley.
- Zina passed her citizenship test.
- James improved his math and gained entrance to pre-apprenticeship readiness preparation for the construction industry at WRTP/BIG STEP. He is targeting a career in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC).
- Janeita completed her GED and is in a training program for a career in the health care field.
- Andrea completed her GED and is preparing to enroll at MATC.
- Iyana completed her GED and is preparing for post-secondary education in health care.
What does “success” look like for your agency? Success for Literacy Services is helping each individual achieve their educational and work-related goals. Sometimes it gets measured in improved standardized test scores, diplomas awarded, jobs gained, income increased but also in confidence built, critical thinking skills gained, problem solving skills applied to good result, social capital built and children’s educational gains when a parent can help more with their education as a result of all of the other measures!
How does United Way funding help you achieve your mission? United Way funding helps us achieve our mission by fueling the essential work, by partnering to help us strengthen our organization, our outcomes, and our knowledge of new and better thinking to drive results.
How can a volunteer get involved? We have dozens of ways for volunteers to get involved. Most people think of the volunteer tutor role we are famous for and that is a big piece of how we are able to achieve so much here. More than 400 volunteer tutors support our students with one-to-one instruction each year. Volunteers also serve on our board of directors, on the boards committees, help with projects, with book drives and collections, as receptionists, as DIY crafters, as classroom assistants, as career coaches and so much more! Visit United Way's volunteer portal to learn more and sign up