About

Our Mission

Literacy changes lives. Our mission is to empower people and strengthen community through education.

If you are reading this, you are one of the lucky ones. Unfortunately, thousands of adults in our community struggle to read and comprehend the basic English necessary to fill out a job application, fill out forms for their children’s schools or medical records, or follow basic instructions. Literacy is key to many issues facing our community, and improving literacy impacts many areas:  employment, public safety, healthcare, and our economy.

The Literacy Alliance works with adults to improve their literacy skills in various ways: obtain a high school equivalency diploma (HSE), improve English language efficiency, and assist area employers by providing on-site instruction to help employees improve their skills. When individuals succeed in these areas, employers will benefit by having more qualified applicants for their open jobs.

Additionally, improving adult literacy impacts family literacy. Parents who struggle with reading often find that their children will also struggle. The Literacy Alliance works to break this cycle by providing free adult literacy services in five locations in Allen, Adams, and Wells Counties and collaborating with other organizations to address these issues.

Project Reads is a one-to-one tutoring program for K-3 students in which volunteer mentors meet weekly with striving young readers to develop and improve their literacy skills. Since 2010, Project Reads has served 1,994 K-3 graders, utilizing 1,725 volunteers to help students reach grade-level reading benchmarks and ensure future academic success.

TLA takes an individualized approach to teaching, knowing that adults come with unique experiences and histories. Since 1972, The Literacy Alliance has helped 16,000+ adults improve their skills to work, live and raise their families. This includes the 2,200+ adults who received their high school equivalency diplomas after studying with us.

History

In the Beginning

In the 1970s, the Fort Wayne Literacy Council was formed to match volunteer tutors with adults who wanted to improve reading skills. The Northeast Indiana Literacy Coalition was formed earlier as a coordinating group to raise community awareness. In 1988, the two groups merged to create Three Rivers Literacy Alliance (TRLA). Services were expanded to include two learning centers where adults gathered to work on basic skills. Fort Wayne Community Schools provided teachers. Fort Wayne Housing Authority provided classroom space. TRLA provided trained tutors, coordination, and outreach services, including childcare and transportation.

Expansion and Partnerships

In 1991, TRLA contracted with CANI Head Start to open a third learning center with a family literacy focus at Head Start’s St. Peter’s facility. In January 1993, two more learning centers at New Haven Methodist Church and Miami Village opened. Additional sites were opened and closed over the years due to changing needs and lack of funding. TRLA also offered workforce literacy services for employers including Parkview Hospital staff, Morrill Motors, and Press Seal Gasket.

Additional services included book distribution through the Books for Kids program, which expanded to the Read to Me Campaign, and the creation of a Kenan Model family literacy program at East Wayne Street Center and Adams Elementary School in 1994. In 1997, TRLA purchased phonics software and a computer for student use. In 1999, TRLA moved to a new location on Clay Street.
In 2000, an English literacy program targeting Hispanic families opened. Several foundations supported these services. TRLA partnered with Fort Wayne Urban League to offer book-sharing tips to inner-city minority families. The organization’s name was shortened to The Literacy Alliance (TLA) in 2004 and introduced to the community in a marketing campaign with a new logo and printed materials. At the Allen County Public Library, TLA started offering classes for adult learners at the lowest reading levels in 2009.

The agency opened two new centers in 2014 in Monroeville and Waynedale, two areas with higher concentrations of adults without high school diplomas. In January 2014, the State of Indiana adopted the High School Equivalency exam (HSE) to replace the GED. The City of Fort Wayne provided funding for adult basic literacy classes, while Northeast Indiana Workforce Development provided funding for high school equivalency preparation and exams.

The former executive director, Judith Stabelli, retired in 2014 after more than 20 years of service with The Literacy Alliance. In July 2014, Mike Landram was named executive director by the board of directors. In 2016, the organization moved to The Summit, a community campus located at 1005 W. Rudisill Blvd., Suite 307 in Fort Wayne.  To prepare adults for success, TLA added workforce preparation and training services in 2017. At the end of 2019, Mike Landram retired, and the board of directors appointed Melinda Haines chief executive officer in January 2020.

Project Reads (PR) is the signature program of the Allen County Education Partnership (ACEP) founded in 1991 by a group of Fort Wayne business leaders, among them the late Ian Rolland and the late Jack Lehman, to promote a literate and skilled citizenry and to support the area’s public schools in their efforts to accomplish this goal. PR is an individual literacy tutoring program in which volunteer mentors meet once a week to help striving young readers develop and improve their literacy skills.  Since 1994, PR has focused its resources on early literacy initiatives.

The Sixth Decade and Beyond

On June 23, 2021, the Allen County Education Partnership board of directors voted to dissolve the organization and transfer the assets to The Literacy Alliance, whose board voted to accept those assets and pledged to make a good faith commitment to keep Project Reads programming in its current form with individual mentoring. By assuming Project Reads’ assets, The Literacy Alliance ensured early literacy services for first through third graders. This became official September 1, 2021.

The acquisition of Project Reads allowed for an opportunity to rebrand TLA, including the mission statement, logo, and website, as well as renaming programs for more consistency and clarity for all stakeholders. In 2022, pre-HSE became Project Build, HSE became Project Graduate, ELL became Project Connect, and the fee-for-service and employer-based services became Project Aim.