ABOUT US
​Our vision is a literate community where all individuals lead a healthy, fulfilled life of self-reliance and dignity.
Catherine Bernhardt Safrit founded the Literacy Council in 1976 after retiring from her job as a junior high school teacher. At the time there were only 26 literacy councils in North Carolina and nearly 1 million adults with little or no reading skills.
RCLC began with a group of 20 volunteers at St. Paul's Lutheran Church before relocating to the Rowan Public Library in the early 2000's.
"A literate community prospers. RCLC is dedicated to improving the lives of adults, youth, and families by enhancing literacy and life skills."
72%
Children of parents with low literacy skills have a 72 percent chance of being at the lowest reading levels themselves.
These children are more likely to get poor grades, display behavioral problems, have high absentee rates, repeat school years, or drop out.
43%
Of adults with the lowest literacy levels, 43 percent live in poverty,
and 70 percent of adult welfare recipients have low literacy levels. There is a clear correlation between more education and higher earnings, and between higher educational scores and higher earnings.
$232Billion
An excess of $230 billion a year in health care costs is linked to low adult literacy.
Nearly half of American adults have difficulty understanding and using health information. Lack of understanding impedes adults' abilities to make appropriate health decisions and increases the likelihood that they'll incur higher health costs.
$225Billion
Individuals at the lowest literacy and numeracy levels have a higher rate of unemployment and earn lower wages than the national average.
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Low literacy costs the U.S. at least $225 billion each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.
ONE
IN SIX
Individuals at the lowest literacy and numeracy levels have a higher rate of unemployment and earn lower wages than the national average.
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Low literacy costs the U.S. at least $225 billion each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.
50%
Children of parents with low literacy skills have a 72 percent chance of being at the lowest reading levels themselves.
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These children are more likely to get poor grades, display behavioral problems, have high absentee rates, repeat school years, or drop out.
75%
Children of parents with low literacy skills have a 72 percent chance of being at the lowest reading levels themselves.
​
These children are more likely to get poor grades, display behavioral problems, have high absentee rates, repeat school years, or drop out.
2/3
Adult education is in critical need for services. A decline in federal and state funding in the past 10 years has resulted in programs serving only a fraction of the adults in need.
Currently, two-thirds of adult education programs are struggling with long student wait lists. At the present levels of public funding, less than 10 percent of adults in need are receiving services.