Paul Anger: Unique alliance forms for a win-win cause

PAUL ANGER

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

DETROIT FREE PRESS

9:26 PM, Oct. 1, 2011

Over lunch, about a year ago, I told Judge Damon Keith about Reading Works.

About how there had never been a comprehensive strategy to boost adult literacy in metro Detroit. About how funding is meager and unpredictable for literacy agencies and the tutors who pour their souls into teaching adults to read well enough to land good jobs, support their families and create a learning culture for their children.

About how Reading Works aims to help transform metro Detroit.

Judge Keith, never one to hesitate when he sees something needed in our community, immediately promised to help. He joined the Reading Works Alliance as an honorary chair.

"What we're doing can unite a city, a state, and maybe the country," he said. "I have a theory that I tell my law clerks when we're faced with a difficult problem -- the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time."

Judge Keith's commitment helped accelerate development of Reading Works. We're still growing, with diverse community leaders on our board of directors, dedicated consultants, a terrific executive director. We're grateful that so many community leaders have stepped forward.

President Allan Gilmour of Wayne State University and Carolyn Shields, new dean of the college of education, committed to establishing an Office of Adult Literacy on campus -- and hosting a national conference on adult literacy in 2013.

Betty Brooks, chair of the Wright Museum of African American History, jumped aboard and said she hopes that adults who read better will pass those skills to their children: "Reading starts at home. I get goose bumps thinking about what we can do."

WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) General Manager and Vice President Ed Fernandez and Editorial/Public Affairs Director Chuck Stokes, plus Michigan Chronicle Publisher Sam Logan, joined the diverse lineup of media partners committed to ongoing coverage of Reading Works.

And A. Alfred Taubman, whose acumen, entrepreneurship and philanthropy have enriched our community for decades, is supporting Reading Works because it has the potential to boost education levels and the work force: "It's one of the best ideas I've heard. It's a win-win."... Read more here.