Our Mission
Center for Literacy (CFL) disrupts the cycle of poverty by providing the knowledge and skills for parents to succeed in postsecondary education, to compete in the 21st century economy, and to support the educational attainment of their children.
Founded as a West Philadelphia tutoring program in 1968, CFL quickly expanded to other areas of Philadelphia in need of adult tutoring. The demand for tutoring services soon exceeded the availability of volunteer tutors, and CFL began adding classroom instruction for adult education. Preparation classes for the GED® test soon followed, and in a few short years CFL was offering free neighborhood classes throughout Philadelphia. For over 25 years, CFL’s English as a second language (ESL) classes and tutoring program have helped thousands of immigrants gain the literacy and citizenship skills to navigate and flourish in their new homeland.
Currently, CFL provides a range of free community literacy programs to best serve our students: Adult Education classes to improve the literacy skills of our learners and to serve as a pipeline into our classes to prepare for the GED® or High School Equivalency; comprehensive family literacy programming; English as a Second Language (ESL)/English Language Acquisition – with beginning, intermediate, and advanced English classes; Opportunity Youth – programming is done in partnership with the Philadelphia Youth Network’s (PYN) E³ Power Centers, where CFL literacy specialists provide literacy services to out-of-school youth, ages 16-21; and small group or one-on-one tutoring.
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Our Impact
over 4 years ago — Philadelphia, PA
In 2019, at the age of 19, Nassirou came to the U.S. from Burkina Faso in West Africa to reunite with her mother and her sister. She began English as a Second Language (ESL) online classes at Center for Literacy (CFL) in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. CFL provided her with a Chromebook to help with her studies. In less than a year, she advanced two educational levels, from low-intermediate to advanced. She was now ready–with the aid and support of her teacher Michael–to enroll at Delaware County Community College, where she continues to study English while she works full-time as a machine handler. In early 2021, Nassirou will be able to start a nursing program at DCCC.