Literacy Works of Hampden County

Partner Profile 

 Literacy Works of Hampden County is a five year collaborative strategic community planning and action process led by the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, Inc.(“REB”) to improve and expand the delivery of literacy services, primarily Adult Basic Education (ABE) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in Hampden County. The thrust of Literacy Works is to incorporate basic skills and language development in all education, business and technology training programs, and to link the importance of literacy to the economic and social well being of the community. 

Goals

The Literacy Works of Hampden County Committee has three Goals for the time period of July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007.

  •  Increase community-wide awareness, understanding and support for adult and family literacy programs that will result in an increased investment of resources by the public and private sectors to strengthen and expand literacy/workforce development programs in Hampden County
  • Work with the Adult Basic Education/workforce development providers and community partners to build capacity and add value to existing literacy programs for adults and families, and identify new resources to fill gaps in literacy services.
  • Provide increased access to high quality Family Literacy programs  that may include age appropriate education for children, parent literacy, structured  interactive literacy between parents and their children, and parenting education and support.

Literacy Services 

Through Literacy Works, the state and local partners intend to develop and demonstrate innovative ways to expand and support ABE/ESOL, workforce development and family literacy programs, the use of technology, and increased investment by government and local and national foundations. With the collaboration of all major ABE/ESOL education providers and stakeholders, LW addresses the crisis of literacy in Hampden County through: 

  • Mobilizing community-wide understanding and support for literacy efforts
  • Developing new programs and strategies to fill identified needs
  • Expanding resources for literacy
Providing quality literacy services to adults improves the workforce, increases employment rates, and builds the economic well being of adults and families.  In addition, literacy ability has a major generational impact on families. Research consistently shows that better educated parents have better educated children and better-educated parents also demand and get better schools.


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