CONCLUSION

Even though Juntos has made significant progress, the partners recognize that there is much more work to be done. Funding is an ongoing issue for Juntos. Although the organizations have been more successful in obtaining grants since they've become part of a larger partnership, more funds are always needed to serve a greater number of the learners who want to improve their literacy, computer, and job skills. Other challenges facing Juntos include getting more community leaders and adult learners to become active members of the advisory council, continuing to improve the transition from adult basic education to higher education and the workforce, and developing a new crop of leaders to keep Juntos going.

Despite these challenges, Juntos continues to grow stronger. When asked what makes the partnership work, the representatives from the six organizations and the advisory council pointed to the following:

• Shared goals.
  
  
• A high level of commitment to the community and to each program.
  
  
• Trust among partners.
  
  
• Diversified funding and openness about finances.
  
  
• Strong leadership.
  
  
• Persistence.
  
  

Paul Hyry offers this advice to communities forming partnerships for adult literacy, "Be prepared. It's going to take a while before issues and substance can be addressed. A collaboration needs to evolve. Let it." He summarized the evolution and future direction of Juntos by saying, "We now have a coordinated program design and have added new services and complemented existing services. We've identified gaps, like the college transition course. We do projects together. We advocate together. We have a strong network. We started to think together, 'Where do we want to go as a community?' Now we're thinking about how to create an integrated ABE and workforce development system."