Capital Area Literacy Coalition - The Reading People

Mission: To eliminate illiteracy in our community by providing free educational support to anyone on a language-learning journey.

The Capital Area Literacy Coalition (CALC) is a private, non-profit volunteer literacy organization founded in 1985. CALC, or The Reading People, provides a variety of services to enable people to achieve personal goals through literacy. We believe that the ability to read is critical to personal freedom and the maintenance of a democratic society. We believe that the ability to read is critical to personal freedom and the maintenance of a democratic society. We provide free one-to-one instruction in reading and writing for children struggling in school, at-risk teens, and adults. We also provide tutoring to migrant and refugee families, GED services, and English as a Second Language instruction. All our programs and services are free and powered by volunteers.

All services are 100% free. With the help of community volunteers, we provide free one-on-one and small group instruction. Diagnostic reading assessments for our students are provided by specialists on staff. At The Reading People, adult learners identify their interests and goals. Goals range from wishing to read bedtime stories, helping children with homework, preparing to find employment opportunities, achieving a promotion at work, to understanding legal and medical documents, and more. Each student is given a free reading assessment to determine their needs and strengths, and an individualized learning program is created by our specialist team. Students are often paired with a trained volunteer to work towards their personal goals for one or two hours per week.