Community type
Large county; population of more than 1 million

Location
Palm Beach County, Florida

Geographic region
South

Partners
Palm Beach County Public Schools; media (The Palm Beach Post and local TV and radio stations); Palm Beach County Bar Association; Region V Adult Literacy Center; local employers; local pediatricians and hospitals; literacy and adult education providers, and others.

Population served
Adults in need of adult basic or secondary education, GED preparation, English literacy, workplace literacy, and family literacy services. About 60 percent of the adult education classes offered are English classes for speakers of other languages.

Lessons learned

• Early success paves the way for more partnerships. It was easy for partners to agree to develop a literacy hotline as their initial effort, and its success contributed to the Coalition’s expansion.
  
  
• Inclusive public events bring partners and the community together in support of literacy services. These provide recognition for learners and partners and keep literacy issues in the public eye.
  
  
• Mutual interests can be creatively tapped. For example, The Palm Beach Post needs readers, and Palm Beach County needs literate residents.
  
  
• What makes the partnership work: leadership from the business community; media attention to literacy issues; strong partner commitment to the program; stable funding base; a carefully devised division of labor between the school district and the Coalition.

Partnership highlights

• The Palm Beach County school district is the main provider of adult education in the county, but the Coalition handles public outreach for these services and recruits learners.
  
  
• The Coalition operates a literacy hotline that can direct learners and volunteers to appropriate programs all over the county.
  
  
• In 2002-03, the Coalition recruited more than 3,200 learners and volunteers, directing them to more than 60 learning sites.
  
  
• The Coalition has distributed more than 50,000 new books to at-risk children and families throughout the county.
  
  
• Through the Coalition’s Reach Out and Read initiative, volunteers in pediatricians’ offices model effective reading strategies with children and provide free books for them to take home.
  
  
• Media partners on the Coalition’s Communications Committee provide corporate contributions, help raise funds, supply volunteers, publicize literacy issues, host events, and provide more than $50,000 worth of free advertising annually.

Resources
Florida Department of Education; Palm Beach County Public Schools; United Way of Palm Beach County; AmeriCorps; corporate contributions; fund-raising events; and in-kind support.

Contact

Darlene Kostrub, Executive Director
Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition
551 SE 8th Street, Suite 505
Delray Beach, FL 33483
Phone: (561) 279-9103
Literacy Hotline: 1(800) 273-1030
dskostrub@aol.com

www.pbcliteracy.org