BACKGROUND
The Origins of the Houston County CLCP

A mix-up at the Warner Robins Sanitation Department in 1996 signaled the need for more literacy services in Houston County. After assigning new trash collection routes to drivers, the department assumed work would continue smoothly the next day. But chaos ensued when some drivers drove their old routes, others drove the new ones, and trash was not picked up at many places in the city. Department leaders soon realized that many drivers were unable to read; they had memorized their old routes and could not read the directions for the new ones. As a result of this incident, the city recognized a need to provide more basic skills training to its employees.

In 1996, Houston County created a CLCP steering committee, which submitted an application to the state consisting of written bylaws, a list of potential board members, plans to meet the eight application criteria, and a list of committees for various issues. The committee also conducted a community needs assessment funded by the city of Warner Robins and consulted census data to set their goal of serving 6,945 adults over the next ten years.

Letters of endorsement from various community organizations, including the Houston County Board of Education, Warner Robins City Council, Middle Georgia Technical College, and the cities of Warner Robins, Perry, and Centerville, among others, accompanied the application. The Houston County Certified Literate Community Program was formally approved as a participant on September 3, 1998, an event celebrated in a public ceremony with the mayors of the three cities.