Last time the U.S. Census checked, nearly two-fifths of Baltimore City adults had never received a high school diploma. According to 1990 data, more than 20 percent of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level. Only Detroit, the Bronx, Miami and Trenton could claim literacy rates than Baltimore.
Centers, programs, even religious movements have surfaced throughout the country to fight illiteracy. And though you may not have realized it, you've probably walked past one of them every day.
Inside the University Baptist Church on North Charles Street, you'll find the headquarters of a non-profit neighborhood organization called Greater Homewood Community Corporation. Founded in 1969, Greater Homewood's mission is to strengthen the 40 neighborhoods of North Baltimore that represent about a tenth of the city's population - a massive undertaking. They rent the church space to provide offices and classrooms for their Adult Literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program.
The Adult Literacy Program, started in 1989, provides local adults with necessary reading, writing, math, and English language skills. Once almost exclusively volunteer-based, the program was recently granted funding to hire professional, paid instructors.
The National Adult Literacy Survey reported in 1996 that 42 million adult Americans cannot read, while 50 million are limited to an elementary school level. With the number of functionally illiterate adults increasing by over two million people each year, organizations like Greater Homewood have become indispensable.
"We run the largest volunteer-based literacy program in the city, and the only program to offer volunteer tutor training that trains volunteers to do this work in the city," said Todd Elliott, Program Director since 2001. "We serve adults from ages 16 and up from Baltimore City. We serve low-income residents of surrounding neighborhoods as well as immigrants."
Despite common misconceptions, adult learners are different from children learning to read, and the program doesn't use children's books, but specialized literacy materials. Publishers create texts specifically geared toward adults learning to read at the basic level.
Since students in the program come from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds, the program instruction ranges from basic alphabet recognition to pre-GED materials. The average age of the student, though it's "tough to say" precisely, is about 40 to 45-years-old.
"We work primarily with lower level readers," Elliot said. "We've become the specialists in that."
The Adult Basic Education classes and one-to-one tutoring are offered free of charge.
"Our primary mission is to provide low cost, quality instruction for reading, writing, math and language instruction to adults in need," Elliott said.
15 classes are being offered this year, including three off-campus evening classes through the partner agencies of Marian House, a women's rehabilitation center, the Church of the Guardian Angel in Remington and the Greenmount Recreation Center.
Many students find out about the program by word of mouth, but they also post flyers and notices in local papers to announce class registrations, which take place 3 times a year. Tutoring is offered on rolling basis, as volunteers become available.
"Right now I think we have about 65 active one-to-one tutoring pairs. These are volunteers and learning working together, and about 110 or 120 adult learners in classes."
Greater Homewood's Adult Literacy Program will always accept applications from prospective volunteers, though it asks tutors to commit to at least a year of service. A number of Hopkins students have actually volunteered in the past, with one JHU student currently halfway through the training program.
The Adult Literacy Program looks forward to a number of future projects and events, like the Greater Homewood Book Group, which will meet about 10 times a year, inviting guests such as university faculty and authors, or "Need to Read," a city-wide read-a-thon.
Improving the neighborhoods of North Baltimore may become Greater Homewood's never-ending mission, but every single success story makes the effort worthwhile.
As Greater Homewood President, Michael Beer, wrote in last year's annual report, the Adult Literacy and ESOL Program is responsible for "helping the community build a sense of belonging, caring, self-respect, hope and pride."
