Empowering Lives Through Literacy

Community Service Spotlight

by Bill Smith and Katherine Freimund

The mission of the Whatcom Literacy Council is to empower adults to achieve their goals and improve their lives through literacy. Literacy is the key that allows individuals to access educational and job opportunities. Since 1983, the Whatcom Literacy Council has helped transform lives by offering free literacy programs to adults who ask for help with basic reading, writing, math and computer skills, and English. They provide free one-to-one tutoring with trained volunteers, hold small group classes throughout the county, and place trained volunteers in existing English as a Second Language and Adult Basic Education classrooms at Bellingham Technical College and Whatcom Community College.

According to the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation (2024), “Literacy gives a person the ability to navigate the world with dignity. The ability to read, write, and comprehend is critical to taking control of our own lives and advocating for ourselves, for our families, and for our communities. When people aren’t equipped with those skills, they’re left with limited options in life.”

Affordable and Accessible

The Whatcom Literacy Council offers free programs to address literacy gaps in the local population. Low-skilled adults take advantage of services that are affordable and accessible. The programs are designed to meet these needs, located at places that are familiar (such as libraries and churches) at times people are available, such as evenings and weekends. Every level of improvement correlates to increased earning potential, and every goal achieved represents an essential skill necessary for independence. Every dollar spent on adult literacy provides returns through higher employment, added tax revenue, reduced welfare payments, and less crime.

Because of their reputation for excellence, local school districts, churches and businesses have established partnerships with the Whatcom Literacy Council to collaborate and share resources. Strategic alliances with Bellingham Technical College, Whatcom Community College, Evergeen Goodwill, and the Whatcom County Library System are key to making sure that programs complement, but do not duplicate, the services of other adult basic skills providers in the area. Small group classes are arranged with local businesses, and several school districts partner to provide classes for parents, knowing that when parents are engaged in learning their children do better academically and socially.

Reading, writing and basic academic skills are only part of what is considered literacy in today’s world. People often ask for assistance with digital and technological literacy, financial literacy, and basic math skills. Improving digital and financial literacy have huge impacts on helping people improve their workplace readiness and allow them to re-enter the workforce. One example of this is a Whatcom Literacy Council learner whose goal was to improve her digital literacy skills. Her tutor helped her to download a credit union app on her phone so that she could balance her checkbook online, and keep track of her spending. Each week they practiced using the app, which allowed her to improve her math and budgeting skills.

Cycle of Illiteracy

The most consistent indicator that a child will be raised in poverty is whether their parent has a high school diploma or GED by age 25. According to The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), youngsters with functionally illiterate parents are twice as likely to be functionally illiterate themselves. This generational “cycle of illiteracy” decreases when a parent improves their literacy skills. There is a 66 percent chance that a person who cannot read at a proficient level by the 4th grade will end up on welfare or in jail. Approximately 85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate.

The most direct and assured path out of poverty is to get a better job and an increase in earnings by improving one’s literacy skills. Adults who are not proficient in English are at an even greater disadvantage for employment; immigrants who speak English proficiently earn as much as 24 percent more than those who are not proficient. Two thirds of the adult learners served by the Whatcom Literacy Council wish to improve their English proficiency. While previously most of these learners spoke Spanish or Russian, now primary languages include Mam, Farsi, Oromo, and Visaya. Some people simply want to practice their English conversation skills; others are working towards passing the U.S. citizenship exam, and many just want a good job.

Helping people learn English proactively targets known ethnic disparities in our community, where people who are not proficient in English are at an automatic disadvantage. The programs of the Whatcom Literacy Council are a launchpad to successful employment and stability. The outcomes of these programs are a healthier economy, greater income equality, and a break in the cycle of intergenerational illiteracy.

The staff of the Whatcom Literacy Council are educated, certified, and experienced in the fields of adult basic education and teaching English as a second language, and programs have been developed to have the greatest impact possible. The one-to-one tutoring program is especially successful because the customized learning plan caters precisely to the students’ level of understanding. Tutoring includes social support and modeling inherent in the process, making it especially effective with people who have had challenges with a traditional classroom.

 

Navigating Essential Services

Strengthened literacy skills affect one’s ability to navigate essential services such as health care, childcare, housing, and food. Volunteer tutors share problem-solving tools that address basic survival approaches, including navigating community resources, and staff are well connected with service agencies for referrals and advocacy. This increases the likelihood that people will access essential services at appropriate points, receive appropriate care, and overall be more satisfied that their needs are met.

Whatcom Literacy Council volunteers receive some of the most rigorous and complete training in the area, with consistent support provided by professional staff. Not only is the use of volunteers an efficient business plan, but it creates social capital as neighbors help neighbors, establishing long term relationships between people of different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. “We like to say that our volunteers learn as much as our adult learners, and the rewarding experience translates to people staying on and often returning to volunteer for a new position when their learner has moved on.”

The Whatcom Literacy Council is led by a board of directors made up of 10 dedicated professionals who adhere to the best practices of governance and fiduciary oversight. They provide the vision and leadership necessary to make the Whatcom Literacy Council a strong and successful nonprofit organization. This diverse group of professionals includes two former clients as board members and represents a wide range of businesses and partner agencies. Recently they worked with a consultant to develop a three-year strategic plan, helping to shape goals and focus areas through 2027.

Literacy is a platform for equity, and, as such, the Whatcom Literacy Council strives to be a model nonprofit regarding racial equity and social justice. Limited literacy skills are a major contributor to poverty, and illiteracy is a barrier for those marginalized by race and economic status. All people need some form of literacy to be engaged in the fight for social justice; literacy gives people a voice to advocate for themselves and for their communities.

To solve systemic socioeconomic problems like workforce development and poverty relief, it is critical that we build a more literate population. The design of our literacy programs, where volunteers work with motivated adults, brings people together who have different economic, cultural, ethnic and social backgrounds, fostering positive social connections and empathy.

Formal Education

Adults who do not have a high school diploma are three times more likely to be unemployed than someone with a college degree and will make almost $10,000 less than their counterparts who have a high school diploma. The United Way of Whatcom County’s ALICE report, as well as numerous other sources, cite that individuals of both genders earn more the higher their education level. The Whatcom Literacy Council works with hundreds of low- or moderate-income learners to prepare for and pass the GED, many of whom are eligible for jobs or who take college level classes after completion of the exam. With over 75 percent of the jobs in our region requiring training beyond a high school diploma, these programs are the steppingstone to good jobs and self-sufficiency.

The wonderful thing about illiteracy is that it is a problem that has a solution. People can be taught to read. The Whatcom Literacy Council is an amazing project where neighbors help neighbors strengthen their literacy skills, allowing them to be more confident in how they navigate the community, and to be better able to take care of their families.

Want to Volunteer?

You can be part of this project by becoming a volunteer. If that is not an option, consider making a donation to support their programs, money that stays right here in Whatcom County. Check out their recently redesigned website at https://www.whatcomliteracy.org/about to find out more. You can help the Whatcom Literacy Council live their mission and empower people through literacy by “Opening Doors. Changing Lives.”

Note

The very popular fundraiser, the Literacy Breakfast with Nancy Pearl, is scheduled for Thursday, October 24. It will be held at the Ferndale Pavilion in Pioneer Park. Registration will begin after Labor Day — don’t wait to reserve your seat because this event sells out quickly!

Bill Smith, is a WWU Professor Emeritus, a board member of Growing Veterans, fiction writer, and a horror film afficionado. Bill taught primarily literacy, technical writing, teaching in the two-year college, and disability studies. He is a supporter of the Whatcom Literacy Council and has assisted with grant writing on occasion.

Katherine Freimund is the executive director of the Whatcom Literacy Council. She is an active member of the nonprofit community, supporting capacity building and peer education projects.