History

LV-Union County began its existence as a local affiliate of Literacy Volunteers of America, a predecessor organization to ProLiteracy Worldwide. For 40 years, Literacy Volunteers of America has worked to increase literacy for adults and their families.

The history of the national organization is summarized below. To learn more about our Union County chapter, please refer to the Organization Profile   page.

1962-     Literacy Volunteers was founded by Ruth Colvin in Syracuse, NY to combat the problem of illiteracy in her home community. Mrs. Colvin worked with professional reading consultants to develop a training workshop which would equip volunteers to tutor adults and teens in basic reading and writing.

The movement soon spread to other New York State communities as the effectiveness of the methods, techniques, and organizational structure of the program became widely recognized. Since its beginnings, LVA has been supported by individuals, foundations, and corporations. In 1967, Literacy Volunteers was chartered in New York State as a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation with a volunteer board of directors.

1971-     The U.S. Office of Education provided a three-year grant for expansion to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York City.

1972-     The total number of LVA affiliates reached 40. Literacy Volunteers, Inc. changed its name to Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. (LVA) to emphasize its growing aspirations 'to foster increased literacy in the United States. The publication and sale of materials emerged as a major focus for the organization as LVA sought to share its expertise in the literacy field and become more self-supporting.

1974-     The English as a Second Language tutor training program was developed in response to requests from community programs. A grant from the U.S. Office of Education to train Adult Basic Education staff in 26 states provided LVA opportunities for expansion throughout the country.

1976-     The National Law Enforcement Assistance Administration awarded two grants to LVA for work in New York, Maine, and Connecticut state correctional facilities.

1979-     Wally "Famous" Amos became national spokesperson for LVA.

1980-     Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities funded LVA's development of a new reading series for learners. In this unique project, humanities specialists were trained to write in simplified form and adult new readers served as editors.

1981-     The Coalition for Literacy, of which LVA is a founding member, formed to increase awareness of illiteracy and resources to solve the problem. The Coalition, working with the Ad Council, launched a national, multi- media ad campaign in 1985.

1982-     The total number of LVA affiliates reached 125. The LVA Field Services Committee produced the first edition of Student Involvement Guidelines, beginning a concerted effort to include LVA students in all aspects of the program.

1984-     LVA established a National Advisory Council, a group of national leaders in business and government, to assist the organization in developing the resources needed for program expansion.

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation awarded a grant to LVA to work with the Community Education network nationwide, resulting in the establishment of literacy programs in new areas.

To expand LVA's outreach and support to new communities, Volunteers in Technical Assistance (V.I.T.A.s) were recruited and trained to assist developing programs throughout the country.

1985-     Barbara Bush, wife of then-Vice President George Bush, accepted the position of Honorary Chair of the LVA National Advisory Council, on which she still serves.

1986-     The Basic Reading Workshop was made available on video to facilitate training larger numbers of volunteers in a more flexible manner. To serve students better, LVA developed the Tutoring Small Groups Handbook through a grant from the Central New York Community Foundation.

1987-     The total number of LVA affiliates passed 25O. Funding from GTE made possible a major revision of the READ ONI series based on over four years of research.

A major grant from the U.S. Department of Labor allowed LVA to work with Goodwill Industries of America in four states to upgrade the reading, writing, and computational skills of clients in sheltered workshop settings.

LVA began to work with major corporations in cause-related marketing ventures. Two of these were with the Virginia Slims Championship Tennis Tour and the Thomas J. Lipton Company.

1988-     Kraft, Inc. awarded LVA a major grant to undertake a two-year Urban Literacy Development Project.

1989-     The total number of LVA affiliates passed 350. Outreach by the LVA National Office was supplemented by the addition of a Southeast Regional Field Office. A Reading to Children video training module was developed with support from Reader's Digest and CIGNA.

An in-depth National Evaluation Study to identify factors which contribute to LVA learners' progress and the success of LVA programs was funded by the Exxon Corporation.

The New York Life Foundation underwrote a pilot project to increase the capacity of LVA Volunteers in Technical Assistance (V.I.T.A.s) to address crucial organizational needs for the coming years.

1990-     Two adult new readers, Ronald Horseman and Kathy Schultz, were elected to the LVA National Board of Directors.

The complete revision and adaptation to video of the Conversational English (ESI, English as a Second Language) Tutor Training Workshop combined small group and one-to-one instruction techniques. This project was made possible by support from GTE.

The Coors Brewing Company launched the National Volunteer Literacy Campaign Training Project, with a goal of training hundreds of tutor trainers, ultimately reaching over 500,000 new adult learners. LVA collaborates with Laubach Literacy Action in carrying out this five- year project.

LVA STARS IN LITERACY, a national awareness campaign, was launched at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City at an event hosted by Hugh Downs.

LVA's commitment to reaching the prison population led to the development of alternative Orientation and Introduction segments for the Basic Reading Workshop for practitioners in criminal justice education.

1991-     The total number of LVA affiliates reached 400.

The GTE Foundation, working with LVA, made family literacy a national focus by funding family literacy programs at sites across the country, providing employee involvement, and producing a handbook, How to Add Family Literacy to Your Program.

A grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation funded a three-year project providing technical assistance to LVA state and local organizations to expand the capacity of the LVA network.

1992-     The total number of LVA affiliates passed 45O. LVA celebrated its 30th anniversary. Maintaining the Balance: A Guide to 50/50 Management was published and adopted as LVA's management philosophy at all levels of the organization.

1993-     The first Family Literacy Institute held in conjunction with an LVA national conference was sponsored by GTE.

Verse, the first self-published computer software developed by LVA, was made available to help literacy programs manage data.

The seventh edition of LVA's basic manual, TUTOR (Techniques Used in the Teaching of Reading) was released. This major revision emphasizes tutoring as a collaborative process and the early introduction of writing.

1994-     A U.S. Department of Labor grant enabled LVA to develop a national strategic plan for the provision of workforce literacy services through LVA affiliates. LVA Works: A Guide to Workplace Education was published.

Ferrero, U.S.A, through its brand. Tic Tac breath mints, created a multi-million dollar cause-related marketing project with LVA to increase national awareness of the literacy issue.

An LVA office was opened in Washington D.C., establishing a full-time presence to increase LVA's impact on public policy related to literacy.

1995-     The first annual Sundin Student Leadership Institute was held in conjunction with LVA's national conference, to train adult literacy students to serve as spokespersons for LVA. The Institute was funded by a gift from The Imo and Rov Sundin Trust.

A 5-year LVA Strategic Plan was put into action after a year of extensive research and study of the total organization, carried out with the pro bono assistance of Bain & Co., an internationally respected management consulting firm.

LVA launched its World Wide Web site.

1996-     The Incredible Reading Rallv (sm), LVA's nationwide signature event, was launched in 10 pilot sites across the country, sponsored by Tic Tac breath mints and Penguin USA.

1998-     The GTE Foundation increased its commitment to adult literacy and LVA through a $600,000 three-year grant to fund the LVA/GTE Family Literacy and Technology Initiative.

Former President and Mrs. George Bush presented the opening keynote address at the LVA conference in Houston, Texas.

1999-     The Yellow Pages Publisher's Association made an unprecedented commitment to adult literacy through a $100,000 per year grant in support of LVA Accreditation and a multi-year, multi-million dollar public awareness campaign: the GET AN IDEA™ America Tour.

2000-     The first Accreditation site surveys began in January. The LVA Board of Directors approved the first program to achieve Accredited status: the East Texas Literacy Council.

LVA launched the 2000 Reasons America Should Read public awareness campaign, inviting people to submit online their favorite reason to read.

2002-     Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. completed a merger with and Laubach Literacy International, a like-minded organization that also had a long history of volunteerism. The new, merged organization is named ProLiteracy Worldwide.

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