on May 14th, 2006Adult Literacy: Learning to Read at 50
If you’ve never played tennis before, chances are you might need a few lessons to get the basics down like a forehand, backhand, and a serve. It also helps to know the rules of how the game is played.
The same approach applies to learning how to read. It requires some basic lessons and lots of practice. Now imagine you are 50-years-old and illiterate. Where would you turn for help? In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, you can visit Literacy Services, a program designed to teach functionally-illiterate adults to read.
He is 50 years old and he’s learning to read. When each session with a tutor is finished, he sticks around and provides free handyman services, including electrical repairs and painting. “I look at it this way. They have time for me, so I’ve got time for them,” Jensen said when I met up with him last week at Literacy Services, 2724 W. Wells St.
If you can read this, you’re not one of the estimated one in four people in the city of Milwaukee or 300,000 adults in Wisconsin who are functionally illiterate. That’s a heap of untapped potential.
Reading is his challenge; perseverance, his strength
Literacy Services has helped him since 1984; in return, he helps them
By Jim Stingl
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel May 13, 2006
Literacy Services
2724 W. Wells Street
Milwaukee, WI 53208
Tel: 414.344.5878
Fax: 414.344.1061