Literacy for Life to Pilot Scholarship Program in Tucson's First Literacy Zone

The Literacy for Life Coalition has been awarded $15,000 from the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona (WFSA) to help more women in Tucson’s low-income Sunnyside Neighborhood earn their GEDs and enter college. The Sunnyside Neighborhood is Tucson’s first literacy zone.

This program, the Women’s Literacy Network, also received special recognition from WFSA founders Melody Robidoux and Harriet Silverman for best exemplifying the mission of the WFSA.

“Obviously we are very pleased to receive this recognition,” said Literacy for Life Executive Director Dr. Martha Gilliland. “More importantly, this program will be a powerful tool to further the education of Sunnyside women and to help break cycles of poverty.”

Nearly half of all adults in Sunnyside over the age of 25 have no high school diploma. This need, among other factors, led to the neighborhood being selected as Tucson’s first Literacy Zone in March. In the Literacy Zone, community schools, government, business leaders and providers of literacy services focus their resources to significantly improve literacy, as well as measure outcomes such as high school graduation rates and fourth grade reading scores.

The Women’s Literacy Network is a network of women tutors and tutees. Neighborhood women are recruited and trained in teaching both literacy and leadership skills. Both the tutors and the tutees are provided with opportunities to complete their GEDs and given scholarships to enter Pima Community College.

“As women gain access to better jobs and maintain stable employment, wages increase,” Dr. Gilliland said. “Working mothers translate those gains into better housing, education and healthcare for their children.”

Literacy for Life is a Coalition of government, nonprofit, business, media, funding and educational organizations that believe increasing literacy in Southern Arizona is the best way to ensure a prosperous economy and an improved quality of life for everyone in our community.

Literacy for Life Coalition members coming together to provide unique services in the Women’s Literacy Network include Literacy Volunteers of Tucson, University of Arizona - Department of Language Reading and Culture, Pima Community College and Pima County Public Library.

For more information on the Literacy for Life Coalition, please visit literacyforlifeaz.org