CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, SportsAdult reading program to continue in downtown Charleston

Adult reading program to continue in downtown Charleston

By Nicole Johnson  bio | email

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - A center teaching adults basic skills to help them the rest of their lives is struggling to stay open. The Trident Literacy Association thought it would have to close two of its offices, but after donations poured in the downtown Charleston center is safe.

Fractions and division are something you may have learned in grade school, but 26-year old Desmond Singleton is just learning the skill now that he's about to have his first son.

"I don't want him to have the kind of childhood that I had. I want him to have a real good childhood, where he knows like school, daddy, and church," Singleton said.

At the Trident Literary Association statistics show more than 60,000 adults statewide don't even have a high school diploma, and they don't have the skills they need to work or get a driver's license.

After 37 years of serving the area, the TLA has grown to seven branches, helping 2400 adults a year learn to basic reading, writing, and math.

Executive director Eileen Chepenik says after announcing the downtown office would close enough donations came in to keep it open.

"These people understand the importance of literacy as the fundamental basis of everything in life from which everything else flows. If a person has low literacy skills, their future is hopeless," Chepenik said.

But the Summerville office on Main Street and the English as a Second Language program remain in limbo.

"We have seen the warning signs coming, as donations that we normally get have been dwindling," Chepenik said.

Dwindling donations and a big time budget cut, affecting adults like Singleton, who never graduated from high school but wants a better future.

"Right now I'm working at Burger King. I want a computer job, you know. I got to finish my GED before I do go into my computer job. That's the kind of job that I want," Singleton said.

It costs up to $700,000 a year to run the Tri-County literacy programs. It's open to adults 17 and older, many of whom test below and eighth grade level, and are unemployed and in poverty.

The Literacy Association thanks everyone who donated money which will keep the downtown office open.

If you want to donate to help keep adult literacy in the area strong just visit any First Federal bank location.

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