Literacy Volunteers faces funding uncertainty as it celebrates 25 years
NORWICH – Literacy Volunteers of Chenango County is celebrating their 25th year of helping adult learners improve their literacy skills and reach their personal goals. But the timing is bittersweet for the agency, which is facing state funding cuts which place its very survival in jeopardy.
On Thursday, the non-profit organization will celebrate this important 25 year milestone at its Annual Recognition Dinner. Both tutors and adult learners will be honored for their contributions and accomplishments at the event, which will be held at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church.
“Over the years, so many individuals have contributed to the success of this program,” said LVCC Program Coordinator Kelly Sines, who has spent the last month gathering stories from tutors, students and volunteers to include in a booklet which will be distributed at the dinner.
According to Sines, the LVCC has served approximately 1,000 local residents since the program’s inception in 1985. At any given time the organization has roughly 40 adult participants working one-on-one with volunteer tutors, and as many as 70 active volunteers.
Over the last 20 years, the agency has helped lower the percentage of Chenango County adults who are classified as functionally illiterate, meaning they read below a fourth grade level.
According to LVCC Director Terry Bickford, the number of area residents which fall into this, the lowest literacy catetgory, has decreased from 14 to 12 percent over that time period, while New York State as a whole has seen that percentage rise. Bickford credits local schools for their role in reversing this trend, but says her agency is the only one which works with adults who read below a 6th grade level.
She and Sines attribute the success of the program to the volunteers who work one-on-one to help adult learners improve their skills and meet their goals.
“What literacy volunteers has always been about is the individual’s goals,” explained Bickford, whether that be getting a driver’s permit, a job or simply reading to their children.
Once they do improve their basic skills, Sines said, the effects are often life changing for the adult learner. Small successes build their self-confidence, making even more achievement possible.
“The doors open,” she said.
According to Bickford, it’s important to remember that the adults LVCC serves are already in the workforce, many are parents and are members of our local communities.
“Literacy plays a part in all of these roles,” she said. By improving their literacy skills, they impact others, whether it is through better communication, increased productivity at work, being able to read to their children (which helps break generational illiteracy), and greater self sufficiency.
“The impact is bigger than we think,” Sines added.
While Sines and Bickford see the impact improved literacy makes on the adults they serve every day, New York State sees things differently. According to Bickford, the state measures the success of literacy programs based on whether or not students make an educational gain of at least two grade levels during one year of tutoring. For adults with low literacy skills, however, seeing the educational gain dictated by the state is not as tangible as learning life skills.
This disconnect between the state level and the work being done to improve the lives of those in the program is contributing to a major funding crunch for LVCC and other similar agencies across New York.
LVCC is one of 40 non-profit organizations accredited through a national organization called ProLiteracy which champion literacy in New York State. The majority of their funding comes from the New York State Education Department, by way of a grant administered through Literacy New York.
On the local level, those state funds account for roughly $40,000 of LVCC’s total $52,000 operating budget. More than a third of that funding is in jeopardy this year, however, as the size of the grant the state-level organization receives is taking a 38 percent hit, thanks to Governor David Paterson’s executive budget proposal.
According to Bickford, prior to a $2 million increase in fiscal year 2008, state adult literacy funding had remained “level” for 16 years. As a result, the organization has had to do more and more fundraising, and look at outside grants, to stay afloat. They also receive a sum from United Way each year. The loss of more than a third of their state funding, will knock the organization’s budget below levels from 20 years ago, she said.
What would a 38 percent reduction in state funding mean for LVCC? Bickford said she’s not sure how local programs will be maintained.
“That’s not even enough money for a full-time staff person to run the program,” she explained. While the organization has a large number of volunteers who do one-on-one tutoring, serve on the LVCC Advisory Board and help out in other ways throughout the year, that position is still important, she stressed. Sines handles not only the volunteer coordination, but recruiting and interacting with adult learners, reporting, making sure they stay in compliance with state regulations, lesson planning, training, etc.
LVCC’s budget is supplemented with funding from the Chenango United Way as well as a number of smaller grants. They also hold a number of fundraisers throughout the year, but Bickford is concerned that those efforts won’t be sufficient to replace what they are losing from the state.
According to Sines, the cuts are coming at a time when their services are more in demand than ever. They’ve seen an increase in referrals from other agencies, she explained, which she attributes to the economy and the efforts of those currently unemployed trying to better their job skills and become more “employable.”
“It’s been a challenge to find enough tutors,” she said.
Reading the heart-felt tales submitted by the people who lives have been touched – and changed – by LVCC is a reminder of how much of an impact the agency has had and continues to have in the local community. And neither Sines nor Bickford is ready to give up despite the challenges they face.
“This program is like the Little Engine That Could,” Sines said.
For more information about Literacy Volunteers of Chenango County, to volunteer or to contribute, call 334-7114 or visit them online at www.ofcinc.org/adlit/lva.
On Thursday, the non-profit organization will celebrate this important 25 year milestone at its Annual Recognition Dinner. Both tutors and adult learners will be honored for their contributions and accomplishments at the event, which will be held at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church.
“Over the years, so many individuals have contributed to the success of this program,” said LVCC Program Coordinator Kelly Sines, who has spent the last month gathering stories from tutors, students and volunteers to include in a booklet which will be distributed at the dinner.
According to Sines, the LVCC has served approximately 1,000 local residents since the program’s inception in 1985. At any given time the organization has roughly 40 adult participants working one-on-one with volunteer tutors, and as many as 70 active volunteers.
Over the last 20 years, the agency has helped lower the percentage of Chenango County adults who are classified as functionally illiterate, meaning they read below a fourth grade level.
According to LVCC Director Terry Bickford, the number of area residents which fall into this, the lowest literacy catetgory, has decreased from 14 to 12 percent over that time period, while New York State as a whole has seen that percentage rise. Bickford credits local schools for their role in reversing this trend, but says her agency is the only one which works with adults who read below a 6th grade level.
She and Sines attribute the success of the program to the volunteers who work one-on-one to help adult learners improve their skills and meet their goals.
“What literacy volunteers has always been about is the individual’s goals,” explained Bickford, whether that be getting a driver’s permit, a job or simply reading to their children.
Once they do improve their basic skills, Sines said, the effects are often life changing for the adult learner. Small successes build their self-confidence, making even more achievement possible.
“The doors open,” she said.
According to Bickford, it’s important to remember that the adults LVCC serves are already in the workforce, many are parents and are members of our local communities.
“Literacy plays a part in all of these roles,” she said. By improving their literacy skills, they impact others, whether it is through better communication, increased productivity at work, being able to read to their children (which helps break generational illiteracy), and greater self sufficiency.
“The impact is bigger than we think,” Sines added.
While Sines and Bickford see the impact improved literacy makes on the adults they serve every day, New York State sees things differently. According to Bickford, the state measures the success of literacy programs based on whether or not students make an educational gain of at least two grade levels during one year of tutoring. For adults with low literacy skills, however, seeing the educational gain dictated by the state is not as tangible as learning life skills.
This disconnect between the state level and the work being done to improve the lives of those in the program is contributing to a major funding crunch for LVCC and other similar agencies across New York.
LVCC is one of 40 non-profit organizations accredited through a national organization called ProLiteracy which champion literacy in New York State. The majority of their funding comes from the New York State Education Department, by way of a grant administered through Literacy New York.
On the local level, those state funds account for roughly $40,000 of LVCC’s total $52,000 operating budget. More than a third of that funding is in jeopardy this year, however, as the size of the grant the state-level organization receives is taking a 38 percent hit, thanks to Governor David Paterson’s executive budget proposal.
According to Bickford, prior to a $2 million increase in fiscal year 2008, state adult literacy funding had remained “level” for 16 years. As a result, the organization has had to do more and more fundraising, and look at outside grants, to stay afloat. They also receive a sum from United Way each year. The loss of more than a third of their state funding, will knock the organization’s budget below levels from 20 years ago, she said.
What would a 38 percent reduction in state funding mean for LVCC? Bickford said she’s not sure how local programs will be maintained.
“That’s not even enough money for a full-time staff person to run the program,” she explained. While the organization has a large number of volunteers who do one-on-one tutoring, serve on the LVCC Advisory Board and help out in other ways throughout the year, that position is still important, she stressed. Sines handles not only the volunteer coordination, but recruiting and interacting with adult learners, reporting, making sure they stay in compliance with state regulations, lesson planning, training, etc.
LVCC’s budget is supplemented with funding from the Chenango United Way as well as a number of smaller grants. They also hold a number of fundraisers throughout the year, but Bickford is concerned that those efforts won’t be sufficient to replace what they are losing from the state.
According to Sines, the cuts are coming at a time when their services are more in demand than ever. They’ve seen an increase in referrals from other agencies, she explained, which she attributes to the economy and the efforts of those currently unemployed trying to better their job skills and become more “employable.”
“It’s been a challenge to find enough tutors,” she said.
Reading the heart-felt tales submitted by the people who lives have been touched – and changed – by LVCC is a reminder of how much of an impact the agency has had and continues to have in the local community. And neither Sines nor Bickford is ready to give up despite the challenges they face.
“This program is like the Little Engine That Could,” Sines said.
For more information about Literacy Volunteers of Chenango County, to volunteer or to contribute, call 334-7114 or visit them online at www.ofcinc.org/adlit/lva.
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