According to the NALS, adults with higher levels of literacy are more likely to be employed and earn higher wages than those with lower proficiencies. They also are more likely to earn interest from a bank account and to vote and are less likely to receive food stamps or be in prison.

While the benefits of literacy are clear, about half of the U.S. population could use significant improvement. Recognizing this need, various ministries of the Episcopal Church began building literacy skills in their communities.

The Episcopal Charities of the Diocese of New York operates one of the church’s larger literacy programs, with a budget of around $800,000, according to the Rev. Mark Hummell, associate director.

The organization devotes the lion’s share of its literacy resources to helping immigrants: A program for Haitians serves about 100 people; Project Empowerment, which helps with job skills, serves about 4,000; and the Rural and Migrant Ministry and the Hispanic Job Skills Program together serve around 45,421.

“New York attracts a lot of immigrants, and language skills are a major problem,” Hummell explained. Across the country, Episcopal Community Services, San Francisco, operates a much smaller program that focuses on the area’s homeless population.

The organization started operating a homeless shelter in 1989, but “we realized we needed an educational center to go with it,” said Brett Mermer, one of the center’s instructors. “It just kind of burgeoned in the last year.”

The center has offered General Educational Development preparation classes and employment services since June 2002 and now offers more basic language tutoring.
“We started out with a GED class and then realized there are people who couldn’t read well enough to get into the GED program, and this group wasn’t getting served,” Mermer said.

Many people at the homeless shelter read below a second-grade level and have learning disabilities, mental illness or substance-abuse problems, he said. He and a group of volunteer tutors now work one-on-one with the most needy.

Understanding the commitment

Mermer encourages people to volunteer, “with the understanding that it’s different than a library. “I love having volunteer tutors, but I think they really need to be prepared for the commitment they make."

The Christ Enrichment Center in Flint, Mich., recruits and trains volunteer tutors for three programs: one for adults age 17 and over; one for 13- to 16-year-olds, most referred by the court system; and an after-school and summer enrichment program for children ages 5 to 12. Currently, 25 children are enrolled, and 12 to 16 adults receive tutoring each week, said Debbie Springer, literacy coordinator.

“The majority of our work is one-on-one,” Springer said. “A lot of adults don’t want other people to know that they cannot read, and they feel more comfortable with one person. They’ve failed so much in their life, in school and whatever, that they don’t want people to see them fail again.”

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church owns the building, and the center recruits volunteer tutors from the church. Tutors are required to commit at least two hours a week to the program. But more is always better, Springer said: “If they’re willing to volunteer more, we’re willing to have them.”

According to a report by the American Society of Training and Development, “The association between skills and opportunity for individual Americans is powerful and growing. … Individuals with poor skills do not have much to bargain with; they are condemned to low earnings and limited choices.”

But with a little help from the church, things could be better, Hummell said.
“We really encourage people to get involved in their parish’s programs for things like literacy and reading,” he said. “We’ve seen the differences our programs make.”