Members from Phelps County, Crawford County, Gasconade County, Franklin County, and Montgomery County Literacy Councils: Follow us on Facebook to see what we do to support adult literacy!
If you did just one thing…
Make a donation
Mail your donation to ECA Literacy Council, PO Box 1336, Rolla, MO 65402
Serve on a County Committee
East Central Area Literacy Council is managed by volunteers that work on local county committees to assists adult education and literacy programs through fundraising, community awareness and recruiting students and volunteers. Meetings are held once each month via Zoom. If you are willing to share your time and effort as a member of the county committee, please contact our executive director, Alice Whalen, alice.whalen@ecaliteracy.org.
Find out more about your county:
Volunteer as a tutor
No special academic degrees are required to be a tutor. East Central Area Literacy Council volunteer tutors must:
- Complete New Tutor Training at East Central Area Literacy Council (approximately 3 hours – training is free and is scheduled regularly).
- Be 18 years of age or older.
- Be willing to undergo a criminal background check through Missouri Automated Criminal History System Name Search at https://www.machs.mshp.dps.mo.gov/MACHSFP/home.html and National Sex Offender check at http://www.nsopw.gov/en-US. Send an email with the following information to volunteer@ecaliteracy.org.
What could you do?
Improve poverty rates
75% of Americans who receive food stamps perform at the lowest 2 levels of literacy, and 90% of high school dropouts are on welfare.*
Lower prison recidivism rates
Seventy-five percent of state prison inmates did not complete high school or can be classified as low literate. Ninety-five percent of those incarcerated are reintegrated into our communities. Research shows that inmates who are educated are 43 percent less likely to return to prison.*
Improve employment
Individuals at the lowest literacy and numeracy levels have a higher rate of unemployment and earn lower wages than the national average. Low literacy costs the U.S. at least $225 billion each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.*
Lower healthcare costs
An excess of $230 billion a year in health care costs is linked to low adult literacy. Nearly half of American adults have difficulty understanding and using health information. Lack of understanding impedes adults’ abilities to make appropriate health decisions and increases the likelihood that they’ll incur higher health costs.*
Total percentage of American adults who can’t understand the labels on their prescriptions 46%
When individuals learn how to read, write, do basic math, and use computers, they can escape poverty, manage health care costs, find and keep living-wage employment, and improve their lives in many more ways.*
Volunteer Form
Literacy changes lives!
For more information, contact us at 844-322-4235
* See more at: https://www.proliteracy.org/Resources/Adult-Literacy-Facts/overview#sthash.ua99QKBL.dpuf