With the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina behind us, most of the attention in New Orleans is still on physical and facility recovery efforts. But buried beneath the news accounts of a city trying to pull itself out of its debris are groups and organizations whose physical infrastructures may not have taken a direct hit from Katrina, but whose programs and services are struggling to stay afloat amidst reduced resources and a changing clientele.
These organizations include adult literacy programs, and behind them is a dedicated group of literacy leaders who are trying to keep the issue of adult literacy in the forefront of all the other issues vying for attention.
Before Katrina, 40 percent of adults in the New Orleans area were reading below the sixth-grade level and another 30 percent below the eighth-grade level. Less than 10 percent of those individuals were categorized as in need of literacy services and were actually enrolled in a literacy program.
The winds of Katrina scattered many adults who were enrolled in area literacy programs and blew in others with additional needs. This brought new challenges for literacy leaders, many of whom have been struggling with personal and professional issues of their own in the aftermath of the 2005 storm.
It’s About Hope
Dr. Petrice Sams-Abiodun, executive director of the Lindy Boggs Community Literacy W Center at Loyola University in New Orleans, says her home was flooded by six feet of water and made uninhabitable after the storm.
With her family currently living in the basement apartment of a relative, while dealing with contractors and city inspectors, Sams-Abiodun has managed to maintain a professional life.
She admits to being frustrated at times.
“As a native of New Orleans, I’m trying to rebuild my life personally and I’m very committed to the issue of literacy/adult education, which has also been devastated by Katrina.”
