LACLEDE LITERACY COUNCIL - : Empowering Communities
Our Impact
The Laclede Literacy Council has been making a difference in people's lives for 34 years. We help second chance citizens achieve their HiSet, enabling them to apply for better jobs, lowing their chances of repeating offenses and giving them a sense of pride and accomplishment. Our clientele isn’t limited to second chancers though! We also help our older generation who never thought they’d ever receive their HiSet, and students who have challenges like autism. We worked with one young man for three years who did not think he would ever attain his HiSet. When he first came to us, he kept his head down, headphones on until he was in a separate room with his tutor and wouldn’t say hi, bye or boo to any of us. By the time he passed his fifth and final HiSet test he would come into our office, say hi to us all, read aloud to us, and leave with a smile on his face! He graduated this spring with a spring in his step and a grin on his face. His goal now is to go to college to become a psychologist and help other kids like him. We also had a grandmother come in and not only earn her HiSet but also tutor others and go on to have her husband, 2 of her children and 4 grandchildren earn theirs! Generational lives have been touched by the work we do! We don’t charge anyone who walks through our door for our services and with the help of MOCA some of our students even get their HiSet tests paid for. None of the books or online service we use to tutor students is free though. It is only through grants and donations from wonderful people like you that we can continue to make a difference in our community. The students we successfully help wind up becoming contributing members of our community and lessen the burden of aid they would otherwise need.
Contact Us
Have a question or want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you. Contact us today and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Donate
Your contribution can make a big difference in the lives of those we serve. Donate today to help support our mission of empowering communities.
Capturing Our Mission: A Photo Story of LACLEDE LITERACY COUNCIL
Rally to read
Help your friends & neighbors!
Laclede Literacy Council is hosting a motorcycle Dice Run/rally for literacy. Whether it’s learning better reading skills or working towards attaining a HiSet (high school equivalency test), the council serves all citizens for free. We help men and women so they can look for better jobs and move out of poverty. We don’t charge anyone to help them further their literacy goals, your donations will help others attain their goals.
Save the date to do your part on July 12th. 2025
VFW Post 4107
1617 Lynn St.
Lebanon, MO 65536
Kick Stands up at 10:00
First roll $20.00, 2nd roll/rider $10.00
Who We Are
We are a non-profit organization actively helping kids and adults reach new educational milestones that promote success throughout their life. These milestones include everything from learning to read, to obtaining a high school equivalency diploma in Missouri by passing the HiSet Exam.
For 34 years, the Laclede Literacy Council has assisted the Lebanon, MO, and surrounding communities with their literacy needs. They are currently helping about 60 some people advance their reading skills or work toward attaining their HiSet. (high school equivalency test, formerly the GED) In the past, they have relied on donations, but a few years ago, they joined AmeriCorps. This enabled them to not only accept donations but also focus on obtaining federal grants. These grants allowed them to retain more tutors to reach more people. However, due to recent events, grant funding has been pulled. As it is, now we are no longer an AmeriCorps program. For those of us who are tutoring we are doing so with no guarantee we will have enough money to continue much longer. We only receive a living allowance through grant funding, which is just enough to cover gas, food, and essentials. Suffice it to say, none of them have a massive nest egg to rely on. Because the administration killed our grant we now only have until September 1st to keep our doors open with limited personnel. This means that we will only be serving a very small population. These members put their hearts and souls into their students. They maintain positive outlooks in the face of massive pressure. They are literally putting on happy faces and maintaining positive outlooks with their students and going home with tears in their eyes, not knowing how much longer they will have. The pressure these folks are under to keep those positive attitudes under such incredible uncertainty is superhuman. We all know, trust us, we know how tight funds are right now, but if it is at all possible, any amount you can spare would be a godsend. Even if it’s only $1.00, a hundred of those dollars would enable the Literacy Council to purchase enough materials to help one student earn their HiSet. Please feel free to stop by their office and say hi and see for yourself the lives that have been touched.
Their address is:
539 East Elm
Suite A
Lebanon, MO 65536
417.532.6697
Capturing Our Mission: A Photo Story of LACLEDE LITERACY COUNCIL
Contact Us
Better yet, see us in person!
We love our students, so feel free to visit during normal business hours at the Chalet Village in Lebanon.
Hours
Open today | 09:00 am – 04:00 pm |
