Fact Sheet

Who Needs Help?

More than 129,000 Northern Virginia adults function at the lowest literacy level. (National Institute for Literacy)
Over 20% of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level. (National Institute for Literacy)
52% of all unemployed Virginia adults are functionally illiterate. (VA Department of Education)
72% of all Virginians on welfare have not completed high school. (VA Department of Education)
52% of all Virginia prison inmates are functionally illiterate. (VA Department of Education)
Approximately 30% of area residents speak a language other than English in their home. (U.S. Census)
Area households where no English is spoken are more than twice as likely to run out of money for basic needs as households where English is spoken. (2000 Fairfax-Falls Church Community Needs Assessment)
The foreign-born population’s primary desire is the desire to learn English. (2004 Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission)

How We Help

The Literacy Council recruits and trains volunteers to teach adults the basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, and understanding English.
The Literacy Council is the only regional program providing one-to-one beginning level literacy instruction to illiterate adults in Northern Virginia.
The Council’s programs help adults reach important goals such as getting a better job, earning citizenship, passing a driver’s license test, obtaining a high school diploma, or reading to their children.
By using trained volunteers, the Council is able to provide one-to-one instruction tailored to meet the individual student’s needs. The result is a successful and cost-effective approach to teaching adults how to read, write, speak, and understand English.
The Literacy Council is the seventh largest literacy council in the nation and manages to deliver its services with only the fifteenth largest budget.
During FY 2005, 1,125 Council volunteers helped 1,805 Northern Virginia adults by providing 31,134 hours of service—an average of over 85 hours per day!

For more information, contact the
Literacy Council of Northern Virginia
2855 Annandale Road Falls Church, VA 22042
(703) 237-0866 www.lcnv.org

"It was like I was blind even though I have eyes. Even though the book was in front of me, I didn’t know what it said. My tutor showed me the world when she opened my eyes and taught me to read."
- Kausar Naseem, ESOL Student