The goal of this project is to increase the membership and fundraising for Open Door Collective (ODC) in order to create an organization with a wider lens and knowledge base around poverty reduction.

ODC members are volunteers and have expertise in connecting adult literacy skills to employment, health care and higher education. Helping all adults to acquire literacy and digital skills will improve economic outcomes for all. Membership is crucial for providing a voice to the movement.

An AmeriCorps member dedicated to increasing the sustainability, reach and efficacy of ODC would help benefit the 41.2 million adults in need of literacy skills. As this program results in new members, partners and resources, it will allow for program expansion.

This project will explore the current state of the "Digital Divide" and its related causes. It will examine digital learning, identify the areas of greatest need and implement programs to aid in the community's development. ScaleLIT will develop learning circles and communities of action that are not just concerned with the cost of computers, but also the presence of widespread illiteracy among overlooked populations.

As a result of the Community Tech Workers AmeriCorps VISTA project, The Friends of Parkside will be able to provide tech support to one of the most vulnerable populations in the Parkside community: older adults. In addition, this project will promote the intergenerational learning of digital literacy in the community while developing employment skills among younger adults.

Because of this project, the community - especially seniors - will develop basic digital literacy skills so that they can function in the newly physical-virtual blended society. Our organization will subsequently be shaped by the richness and diversity of more residents who are able to engage and interact with us virtually and in person.

This project's Literacy Leader helps United Way for Southeastern Michigan reach vulnerable subpopulations, incorporate more opportunities for community voice, and increase community partnerships and funding streams to create a more widespread impact. The goal is to close the digital divide in metropolitan Detroit by 2024 so that every child and adult in the service area has access to technology, as well as possesses basic digital literacy skills in order to use the technology at their disposal.

The Literacy Leaders for the project work with Make the Road New York’s (MRNY) Strategic Planning team to expand and strengthen an integrated digital literacy strategy with three strands:

1. Expand digital literacy tutoring for MRNY’s current adult literacy students.
2. Expand digital literacy instruction for community members not enrolled in adult literacy classes.
3. Build a digital navigation program within MRNY by developing resources, coaching tools and volunteer structure.

In 3–5 years, the AmeriCorps VISTA project will expand digital literacy to low-income community members, resulting in the ability to more easily work, live and go to school in our increasingly digital world.

This second-year project will develop strategic supports for the programming infrastructure established in the first year in two key ways:

1. Develop tools and capacity-building frameworks for program evaluation.
2. Increase the library’s engagement with underserved communities and families living in poverty by developing community engagement models and training for front-line staff.

The project will also build capacity by developing regional passive programs as well as training tools to ensure staff in all 32 Great River Regional Library (GRRL) locations have access to the tools, concepts and resources that will enable them to best provide cohesive literacy-based programming for children and youth.