Adult Literacy Program-Family Violence and Prevention Services

Grant Information
Requested	$5,000.00
Granted	5000.00
Categories	Community , Education
Location	South Texas
Grant Cycle	2014

Organization Info
501c3 Organization	Each One Teach One (EOTO)

Grant Description
Description	Our grant request is to assist with funding a literacy/GED preparation program at the Family Violence and Prevention Services women's shelter in San Antonio, Texas. This program benefits the women of the shelter by enabling them to advance their literacy achievements, enabling them to better financially, emotionally and educationally support themselves and their children. The children of the shelter also benefit as their primary caregiver, already having found the strength to leave an abusive situation, becomes able to function as a single parent effectively and financially support their families. The educational attainment and ability to support the family helps insure the women do not feel they have to return to an abusive situation. Each enrolling adult learner is evaluated through standardized testing to determine their educational level and through an interview with one of our literacy instructors to determine their educational history and goals. The student may want to attain their GED. They may simply want to become functionally literate-it is the students choice as to which educational path they choose to pursue. Based on the enrollment outcomes, EOTO staff will develop an educational plan for the student, and assign the student a volunteer tutor to implement the educational plan. The student is tutored one-on-one, or in a small group setting (less than 10), depending on the needs of the student. The student’s progress is evaluated periodically by EOTO staff. Evaluation methods for the student include assessment exams upon enrollment to test baseline knowledge (paid staff), pre- and post-testing to measure knowledge advancement (paid staff), tutor comments and student feedback from every session (volunteer tutor), GED practice testing (paid staff), and monitoring of advancement through the program (paid staff). This on-going evaluation continues until the student attains their personal educational goals. EOTO does ask that the adult learner commit to 2 hours per week of in-person tutoring/instruction, and an additional three hours per week of home study. According to one of our FVPS students/adult learners: "The vocabulary section has helped me build my language skills and it has also helped me help my children with their homework." Another student says: "The experience we had with this class has been like no other. It really has shown me that I am smart and I can really push myself to the limit and beyond......" The grant funds requested will be used to fund the literacy instructor salaries, curriculum materials, and on-line GED preparation tests. Our literacy instructors are former educators with extensive teaching experience, and in combination with our volunteer tutors, are absolutely critical to our success. The curriculum material needs include workbooks that the students are able to take home with them, as well as GED preparation and practice testing materials (both in print and on-line).
Used for	Each One Teach One (EOTO) will use the requested funds for our partnership with the Family Violence and Prevention Services. Our program provides adult literacy instruction and GED preparation instruction to adults who are functionally illiterate in order to assist them in attaining their educational and employment goals. EOTO will fund salaries for two part-time literacy instructors, curriculum materials and on-line GED preparation tests for women who are victims of domestic violence and have fled their abusers, and who are residents of the Family Violence and Prevention Services (FVPS) women's shelter.
Benefits	Once an adult learner attains functional literacy, and/or their GED certification, that adult learner is better able to find and retain gainful employment, thereby enabling them to contribute to the success and stability of their family. This is especially important for women who are victims of domestic violence; they need the education and means to support their family after fleeing their abuser. Further, studies have shown that the educational achievement level of the primary parent is the single most important predictor of a child's educational success-what better way to inspire our children than for those children to see their mother not only removing herself and them from an abusive situation, but seeing their mother work to achieve a better life for her family through educational advancement!