"IT'S YOUR CALL" CAMPAIGN TO RECRUIT LITERACY TUTORS By SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE H. RYAN

"It's your call ..." is the rallying cry for a new statewide campaign to recruit more volunteer literacy tutors. By calling the state's literacy hotline number, 1-800-321-9511, a volunteer is referred to a literacy program, receives appropriate training and, ultimately, is linked with one of the nearly 4 million adults in Illinois who cannot read or write well enough to perform their daily tasks. The hotline, for example, handles nine calls from students in Chicago for every call from a volunteer.

Currently, 2,477 adults throughout the state are waiting for tutors as they dream of bettering themselves. More than half of those would-be learners are in Chicago.

Why can't we help more people help themselves? The biggest problem we face right now is a lack of volunteers. Programs in Chicago, the collar counties, the Metro East area and throughout Illinois rely on volunteer tutors to teach people who want to learn.

Because of the urgency of the tutor shortage, I am pleased that my office has forged a partnership with the Illinois Literacy Foundation and the Illinois Literacy Council to recruit volunteer teachers for adults.

The centerpiece of the recruitment campaign focuses on new public service announcements that started airing statewide during Literacy Awareness Month in September. The goal of the recruitment drive is a 25 percent increase in the number of tutors statewide.

In addition, nearly $6 million in literacy grants recently was awarded to 170 literacy programs across the state to help people advance their lives. These programs include 108 community literacy programs, 18 programs offering literacy training to parent/child teams, and 53 literacy programs that operate in businesses. The grants were earmarked by the General Assembly and Secretary of State staff to help people get better jobs, help their children learn to read, and lead more productive lives by improving their math, reading and language skills.

History show that when help is available, people use it. Since the Secretary of State Literacy Grant Program was first established, more than 130,000 adults have come forward for reading, math and English as a Second Language instruction. Either one-on-one or in small group settings, nearly 60,000 volunteers have provided millions of hours of tutoring at more than 150 community, workplace and family literacy program sites in Illinois.

But the need for volunteers keeps growing. With help from local officials, civic organizations, organized labor, businesses and senior citizen groups, we hope to identify new volunteers to meet the needs of the thousands of adult learners waiting for tutors.

Literacy programs throughout the state can provide volunteers with training and materials. Volunteers can change the lives of parents who cannot read their children's prescription bottles, workers who put themselves and their co-workers at risk because they cannot read, and families who must rely on the State's welfare system because adults lack basic job skills and education.

We have named this effort "It's Your Call" because all a volunteer tutor needs to do is pick up the phone and call our hotline number. Anyone who can read can be a tutor and help people change their lives. Remember: It's your call.

November 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 11