Over the course of the 2009-2010 funding year, the Balcarres Communities Literacy Network (BCLN) and the Regina Literacy Network (RLN) completed a needs assessment for literacy in our region. As a result of that needs assessment it was determined that because we are both relatively small organizations that serve large communities, partnering on future projects and literacy service provision in our region would be beneficial for both organizations and the community at large.
In response to this we have combined our efforts to work with core project partners to develop a Community Literacy Plan. Our organizations will work with project partners and service providers to increase learning opportunities in our region for adult learners, parents, children, youth and practitioners. We will decrease the number of literacy programs being delivered in isolation within communities and help to increase the number of networking and partnership opportunities for service providers, parents and practitioners in this region.
High populations of Aboriginal and Canadian Newcomers in our region support the need for increased Workplace Literacy and Essential Skills programming in our area. As well, there are issues of low literacy and pre-literacy skill attainment for children and youth in our community that have a lot to do with a lack of parental involvement and support in their lives. We will address these concerns for our communities via family literacy programs focused on the 40 Developmental Assets, justice literacy and health literacy. As well, developing a family literacy program around the Convention on the Rights of a Child will help parents to understand their legal obligations to provide their children with the supports and environments that children need to succeed. This program will also be used to help children understand their basic human rights.
In Regina we will work primarily in partnership within inner-city, at risk communities and on the rural side of our region we will work in a variety of locations on and off reserve, with the core pilot projects taking place in the Town of Balcarres. We will deliver family, workplace, justice and health literacy programs via our Literacy Outreach Program that tackle these highly controversial barriers to literacy attainment for families and increase overall quality of life and determinants of health for our residents.