Kalamazoo Literacy Council hires new director

The Kalamazoo Literacy Council has a full-time director whose goal is to strengthen adult literacy services in Kalamazoo County.

Michael Evans, 41, was named Director of Literacy Services earlier this month and is charged with bringing area adult literacy programs together to better coordinate services for adults wanting to learn how to read or improve their literacy skills. He also plans to raise awareness of adult literacy issues in the community and gather more support to this cause.

“I look forward to expanding the reach of the Kalamazoo Literacy Council in the community,” Evans said. “There are thousands of adults in the county who need help in improving their literacy skills to better prepare them for the workplace or to live more independently.”

The new position is the result of a collaboration between the Council and Goodwill Industries of Southwest Michigan to strengthen the adult literacy services provided in the area. The Council has also established an office in the Goodwill Industries building at 420 E. Alcott Street to provide a central location for its services and to coordinate activities with Goodwill’s Family Literacy Program. The collaboration is funded in part by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

“Hiring a director is the next step to broadening and improving literacy education for adults in Kalamazoo County,” Board President Paula Aldridge said. “We are confident that Michael will move the Council forward in its plans.”

Before coming to the Council, Evans worked for 14 years in the nonprofit sector in Battle Creek with several organizations including Community Inclusive Recreation, Summit Pointe, New Level Sports among others. He was Executive Director of Heritage Battle Creek and the Sojourner Truth Institute of Battle Creek and served on many statewide boards including the Michigan Humanities Council, the Michigan Freedom Trail Commission, and the Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies. Prior to entering the nonprofit sector, he was a staff writer for the Kalamazoo Gazette. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Western Michigan University where he majored in English and Communications.

The Kalamazoo Literacy Council has been helping adults learn to read since 1974. For more than 36 years it has operated as a volunteer organization, providing free tutor training in the Laubach Method, one-on-one services to adults, and literacy education materials.

Fulfilling the Council’s mission of having a fully literate community is more critical now than ever. In Kalamazoo County, over 31,000 people or 13% cannot read a simple story to a child, an intersection on a map, a prescription label, or total purchases from an order form. Additionally, children whose parents are functionally illiterate are twice as likely as their peers to be functionally illiterate. Helping adults improve their basic literacy skills has a direct and measurable impact on both the education and quality of life of their children. Moreover, for families to take full advantage of the Kalamazoo Promise or more confidently support their children’s education, they must be able to model reading and literacy in the home. Parent’s who value their own educational attainment make a great difference in their children’s success. That is why the Council is committed to quality literacy education to eliminate these problems and enhance the lives of adults through programs that increase reading, writing and spelling skills.

For more information about the Council, please call (269) 382-0490 EXT. 222 or visit the organization’s website at www.kalamazooliteracy.org.