Volunteer
Education
- More than 20% of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level, far below the level needed to earn a living wage. (National Institute for Literacy, Fast Facts on Literacy, 2001)
- 60% of America's prison inmates are illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems. (U.S. Department of Education)
- Approximately 50% of the nation's unemployed youth age 16-21 are functionally illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
One element links together the populations of juvenile halls, prisons, the unemployed, and those on welfare: illiteracy. As things stand, if the root causes of under-education are not addressed, these statistics will continue to grow and millions more people will be thrust into poverty. Where basic reading skills can be the determining factor between a successful career and poverty, it is essential that we address these issues. Episcopal Charities' Education Action Network brings together volunteers from the five-county San Francisco Bay Area who are passionate about quality education for all, and want to work together for change.
Current Project Partners
Boys Hope Girls Hope helps academically capable and motivated children in need to meet their full potential by providing residential facilities and access to quality education through college. Boys Hope Girls Hope—International, which oversees 41 Boys Hope Girls Hope homes in 16 U.S. cities and 3 foreign countries, was incorporated in 1975, and opened its first home in St. Louis in 1977. Boys Hope Girls Hope—San Francisco Bay Area became incorporated in 1999 and began serving children in the summer of 2000, becoming the 28th home and 15th U.S. affiliate.
Healthy Oakland is a faith-based non-profit organization co-founded by Pastor Raymond E. Lankford, MSW and Bishop E. C. Reems-Dickerson as a result of escalating violence and health disparities in African-American communities in Oakland. After providing health screenings on a mobile health van throughout the Bay Area for two and a half years, Healthy Oakland opened a Family Resource and Save A Life Wellness Center to provide more comprehensive services and case management to at-risk individuals and families.