Craven Literacy Council

Craven Literacy Council is a nationally accredited, volunteer-based provider of adult literacy instruction. When individuals learn how to read, write, do basic math & use computers, they are more likely to lift themselves out of poverty, contribute to lower health care costs, and find employment.  An average of 15% of adults of in Craven, Jones, & Pamlico counties - over 19,000 adults – read at a third grade level or below. The average poverty level is 18.7% according to the 2018 census. Children of parents with low literacy skills have a 72 percent chance of being at the lowest reading levels. Poverty. Economy. Crime. Health Care. Jobs. Education. There is one factor that can have a positive impact on all these issues – increasing adult literacy rates! 

Craven Literacy Council provides basic literacy and English as a Second Language instruction to adults in one-on-one or small group settings. Basic literacy instruction includes reading, writing, speaking, listening and basic technology. Civics instruction is offered to eligible adults to help them pass the naturalization test for U.S. citizenship, as well as financial and health literacy instruction. Additional programs now being offered by CLC are Family Literacy and Culinary Arts classes. Family Literacy is a type of literacy education that emphasizes bringing reading and writing into the home and making it a family activity.  The greatest determinant of a child’s future academic success, is the literacy level of the mother.

The majority of CLC students do not have a computer or internet. With the pandemic, it became difficult to continue their learning.  To prepare for the fact that some of our tutors aren’t ready to return to face to face tutoring, we are implementing digital access for online learning at our office for our students to communicate virtually with their tutors. With additional funding, CLC will acquire laptops and will purchase licenses for an online curriculum "Learning Upgrade". LU is an online program for learners to build their English, math, and digital literacy skills with over 900 courses which correlate to the NC approved adult education content standards. It can be accessed from phone apps for the student with this capability. CLC will have onsite tutoring & small classes for students & tutors who are comfortable coming to our offices. To provide a safe environment, face shields, individual ear phones with microphones, plexiglass dividers, and additional cleaning supplies will be provided as well.