Adult literacy is one of five priority issues on which United Way is focusing. One in five Tarrant County adults cannot pass a basic literacy test. Some cannot read a medicine bottle or fill out a job application. Literacy is a problem not only for people who speak English as a second language, but for people who drop out of high school or graduate with limited skills.

When United Way learned that some people were not qualifying for local job training programs because their reading and math skills were not up to the eighth grade level, it joined forces with the Community Learning Center in Fort Worth to offer an intensive, six-week literacy program. The free program is designed mainly to help participants qualify for Community Learning Center job training programs that often lead to profitable jobs in the aerospace industry. (The literacy training is also open to people who don’t plan on applying for the Center’s job training programs.)

Participants learn to better understand what they are reading and improve other literacy skills. Classes began Sept. 5 and are already showing impressive results. In the program’s first 10 weeks, nine people qualified for an aerospace training program. They increased their reading skills an average of 3.9 grade levels and their math ability an average of 3.5 grade levels.

A class of 10 adults meets from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Participants work at their own pace on their individual areas of concern. Funds are available to take care of problems that make it hard for people to attend literacy classes. For example, when one participant’s unemployment benefits ran out and the high cost of gas stretched his budget to the breaking point, United Way provided gas money.

Besides establishing the literacy classes, United Way is bringing together a variety of organizations and individuals to coordinate other existing literacy efforts and develop a countywide strategic plan to improve literacy.