About Us

Promoting awareness of literacy issues birth to adult, connecting learners to literacy resources, and supporting literacy provider organizations.

MISSION

Our mission is to improve the quality of life for our community by supporting the advancement of literacy services in the Oklahoma City metro.

VISION

We envision an Oklahoma City where those struggling with literacy are heard and connected to literacy services, resulting in a fully literate community.

COMMUNITY COALITION

Community literacy involves establishing a process of shared problem-solving that unites communities around the vision of 100% literacy with 100% community engagement. The implementation of community literacy is both bottom up and top down.

Learn more about the Coalition.

Our History

In 2006, leaders from the Junior League of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City Community Foundation, United Way of Central Oklahoma, Community Literacy Centers, Inc., and R.S.V.P. (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) responded to increasingly low literacy levels in metropolitan Oklahoma City. They convened more than 80 members of the community to discuss literacy problems and find solutions.

Eight task forces worked for a year and created a blueprint for increasing literacy levels. They determined there needed to be a backbone organization to implement the blueprint. Thus, the Oklahoma City Metro Literacy Coalition was founded in June 2007

OUR GOALS

To ensure that anyone who wants literacy services can access them.

To ensure that literacy providers have the resources needed to provide the best possible services to learners.

To bring the community together in order to present a united voice for literacy.

OUR STRATEGY

To promote awareness of literacy issues and resources to the community

To facilitate connection of learners to services, volunteers to opportunities, and providers to each other

To offer support to literacy providers so they can supply quality services to even more learners

COALITION FAQS

- Expand access to literacy services throughout the community
- Provide coordination to assure the most efficient and effective services
- Spread best practice research and discussion throughout the provider community
- Engage the leadership of the community at its highest levels to build lasting solutions
- Keep literacy visible as a top priority in the community
- Children are prepared for and succeed in school.
- People become employed, self-sufficient and climb a career ladder.
- People make informed decisions about civic, environmental and health issue.
- People better navigate new information and technology.
- Communities combat the forces of poverty and crime.
- Employers grow their businesses.
The significance of our low literacy problem is daunting. The issue must be addressed in a collaborative manner. Literacy and economic development go hand in hand.
Employers now find it more cost effective to relocate operations if they cannot find the skilled workers to meet their needs in the local area. A literacy system that begins in early childhood should scale up services for all members of the community and create a strong economic foundation for the region.
We educate our children because they will become the workers, citizens, parents and communities of tomorrow. But the educational needs of undereducated adults are just as real, and they are immediate. Adults at any time are the workers, citizens, tax-payers, parents, and communities of Today!
By increasing the high school graduation rates, each graduate will earn on average $267,000 more than a non-graduate over a lifespan.
By reducing the number of people receiving welfare support, there is a lifetime savings of $127,000 per capita in the cost of welfare support.
By increasing literacy levels, there will be a reduction in the $73 billion spent annually for unnecessary health care expenses that are attributable to poor literacy.
Coalition Partners
A Coalition Partner is any organization, agency, individual, or business that engages in the efforts of the Coalition through financial, in-kind, or time contributions.
Partner Organizations
Capitol Hill Baptist Church ESL Program
Community Literacy Centers
Freedom Schools
First Serve OKC
Jubilee Partners
Newspapers in Education at The Oklahoman
OIC of Oklahoma County
Oklahoma Christian University TEFL Program
Oklahoma City Community College Adult Learning Center
Oklahoma Messages Project
Oklahoma Public Schools Foundation
Oklahoma Youth Literacy Program
Payne Education Center
Reach Out and Read Oklahoma
Restore OKC/ Stone of Hope
Smart Start Central Oklahoma
Spero
TEEM
Whiz Kids Oklahoma
Founding Members
Community Literacy Centers, Inc.
Junior League of Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City Community Foundation
Retired Senior Volunteer Program
United Way of Central Oklahoma
Coalition Partners
Arnall Family Foundation
Arvest Bank
Bank of Oklahoma
Barlow Education Management Services, Inc.
Castle Falls Restaurant & Venue
Continental Resources
Counter-Tops by Tom
Crowe & Dunlevy
Delta Theta Chi – Oklahoma Beta Chapter
Half Price Books
ImageNet Consulting
Karly Party Designs
The Kerr Foundation, Inc.
King’s Worldwide Transportation
Kirkpatrick Foundation
KPMG
Kusum Hospitality
Learning Tree
Lujan Law Firm
Main Street Parking
McAfee & Taft
MidFirst Bank
OKC Thunder
Oklahoma City Community Foundation
Oklahoma City University, TESL Master’s Program
Oklahoma Fidelity Bank
Oklahoma Literacy Coalition
Oklahoma Shirt Company
Penny Candy Books
Red Carpet Car Wash
Sarkeys Foundation
Sodexo
Susie's Catering
Tinker Federal Credit Union
TMG Service Company
The UPS Foundation