This content was published: June 25, 2002. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Verizon Foundation Awards PCC with Literacy Grant
Photos and story by James Hill
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Verizon Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to Portland Community College for a pilot English as a second language project.PCC will use the money to streamline ESL services by adding computer literacy assessment and to track student placement at the college. The target area for the project will be western Washington County where there is a fast-growing Hispanic population. The primary PCC partner is Centro Cultural in Cornelius, a non-profit organization that serves Hispanics.The goal of the project is to aid non-English speakers in accessing services that will increase their language and computer skills. The end result is to have more Hispanics moving on to continued education and higher wage-earning jobs.The grant award was announced June 12 at a celebration of literacy at McKinley Elementary School in Beaverton. In total, PCC was one of eight nonprofit organizations that received money from the Verizon Foundation, totaling $120,759. The Verizon Foundation supports a variety of programs that improve basic and computer literacy in the community. The goals of the foundation are to help bridge the digital divide, enrich communities through technology and create a skilled workforce.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »