Literacy impacts every aspect of a person’s life. Here in Hawai‘i, statistics show that one in six adults in Hawai‘i struggle with basic reading and writing. That’s why over the past five decades, Hawaii Literacy has tirelessly worked to help Hawai‘i adults and children access reading, writing and lifelong learning skills.

Established in 1971, Hawaii Literacy has helped 40,000 adults and youth in communities disproportionately affected by high illiteracy and poverty rates. What started out as a volunteer tutoring program has now expanded to include three bookmobiles, multiple programs, literacy libraries and much more across the state.

This year, the nonprofit celebrates 50 years when it launched a new digital literacy program in October. A partnership with the Workforce Resiliency Initiative, the program is designed to en- sure that everyone has the opportunity to upskill. Jill Canfield, executive director, says, “Recognizing that foundational digital literacy skills are as vital as basic reading and writing, we created the Digital Literacy Program to give Workforce Resiliency Initiative participants basic computer training, setting them up to succeed throughout each phase of the initiative. The program will also provide technology tools such as broadband access and devices to public housing sites and other organizations that serve low literacy adults.”

She adds, “This is a need magnified by the pandemic as essential services, many jobs and education have moved online.”

Last year, COVID-19 highlighted more than ever the digital gap — a gulf be- tween people who can leverage that technology and those who cannot. At the start of the pandemic, more than 25 percent of public school students in Hawai‘i were not engaged in distance learning due to the digital divide, and that number was even higher in communities Hawaii Literacy served.

“There is much research of the summer learning shortfall experienced by low-income children in the elementary grades which has consequences throughout children’s schooling, and beyond,” says Canfield. “We can assume that the pandemic and challenges of remote learning has had a similar, if not greater, impact of the educational achievement of students during this time.” She adds, “Many of our adult learners were the first to lose their jobs in the economic downturn of the pandemic,” says Canfield. “In some cases, tutoring was put on hold because basic life necessities were prioritized such as housing, food insecurity and utilities.”

In response to the pandemic, Hawaii Literacy developed webinars, training videos, and a new and revised online curriculum and tutor training. They added additional ELL classes, pandemic-related information and also created graphic-rich flyers with simplified language for communities hit disproportionally hard by the pandemic who struggled to read. They also distributed PPE and food boxes to communities in need.

To combat learning loss, their tutoring pilot implemented an adaptive reading and hybrid education technology platform.

At Family Literacy Libraries and Bookmobile programs, they tirelessly distributed locally published books, literacy kits, school supplies and Keiki Wellness Bags. They also published online resources and take-out literacy building activities for parent and caregivers and developed summer reading programs at summer fun sites in Waianae and Nanakuli in partnership with public libraries.

There’s plenty you can do to help! If you want to help by being an adult literacy tutor, ELL volunteer or by donating children’s books, school or art supplies or hosting drives, call 808.537.6706 or email info@hawaiiliteracy.org.

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LITERACY AT A GLANCE

• 43% of adults with the lowest literacy levels live in poverty

• Children of parents with low literacy skills have a 72% chance of being at the lowest reading levels themselves

• The single greatest indicator of a child’s future success is the literacy level of his or her parents

• 2⁄3 of students who cannot read profi- ciently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare

• One in six adults have low literacy skills in Hawai‘i — over 155,000 adults are functionally illiterate

• 43 million people in the U.S. cannot read or write above a 3rd grade level

• Low literacy costs the nation between $106 to 238 billion dollars in healthcare costs that are linked to low literacy.