Serving more than 600 students each year, Literacy Action provides free classroom instruction and job readiness services for adults with low literacy skills. In metro Atlanta alone, nearly 800,000 adults are considered “functionally illiterate”. Like many other nonprofits in the Atlanta region, Literacy Action has been facing a significant increase in demand for services over the last two years. And as more individuals continue to struggle with unemployment or underemployment, executive director Emily Ellison is leading Literacy Action to help provide those clients with education, counseling and connections. “Demand for our services is at an all-time high because low-literate adults are the first to lose their jobs during a recession and the last to be rehired. We’ve changed our intake system to add new students more frequently and increased class offerings, including Saturday sessions and off-site classes at partner organizations. And we’ve functionally changed some of the ways we operate to be even more efficient.

“Last March we made the critical decision not to cut services to clients and therefore proactively began making significant changes to our operations. We cut full-time staff by nearly half to work as part-time staff and also trimmed hours of other staff. We were forced to cut professional development from the budget completely, but were able to significantly increase professional development through pro-bono assistance from groups like The Southern Company, which provided us with an organizational audit and training for our leadership team, and Georgia State University, which provided advanced training for our classroom instructors.” While demand for services from Literacy Action continues to increase, finding the funding to support these services can be challenging in today’s economy. Earlier this year, Literacy Action received one of The Community Foundation’s first round of general operating support grants from our Common Good Funds. This type of investment allowed the organization to determine how and where to spend it.

“When I learned about The Community Foundation prioritizing general operating support, I thought it was wonderful that they stepped up to provide leadership in this philanthropic approach. They recognized how the needs of those they’re supporting have changed dramatically in this economic climate, and it was an extremely wise and strategic shift. As a partner in this work, we don’t want to have to come up with budgets that might meet a specific funding priority but that don’t move the needle or serve our operational goals. We want to be honest and clear about what we need and how we work, and receiving this kind of general operating support has allowed us to do that. I think The Community Foundation is leading the way for other foundations to be equally thoughtful about their investments in nonprofits.”

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