YUMA READING COUNCIL

The Yuma Reading Council has been a literacy provider in Yuma County since 1981. Beginning then as a small pool of dedicated volunteers and growing today into a large, multi-faceted agency serving the community-at-large, the agency is the largest literacy program in Yuma County and the only volunteer-based program in the area.

Additionally, the Yuma Reading Council is the only agency that breaking geographic boundaries and working to provide services in an area that covers 5,200 square miles, contains two military installations, and two Indian tribes.

The volunteers at the Yuma Reading Council strive to provide the community with quality service rather than quantity services. Each year approximately 900 people are served by a staff of 14 and a volunteer corps of just over 100 residents. They take pride in working with the students to successfully place them in jobs or volunteer placements in the community.

The Yuma Reading Council utilizes a plan of growth and planning that includes community members, students, tutors, staff and Board. This has made the organization highly effective in all aspects of program development and growth to meet the needs of those most in need of quality of life through increased literacy.

The Yuma Reading Council provides English as a Second Language, GED, Adult Basic Education and Spanish literacy to the residents of Yuma County. They provide these services through a cooperative effort of paid instructional staff and volunteer literacy tutors. There are programs on life skills and community integration for all students. The staff and volunteers recognize that literacy involves not just giving students the skills but also showing them how to use the skills.

The Yuma Reading Council works in the community in partnership with other human services agencies, probation and state departments to enhance lives through cooperative education programs.