The CareerSource NEFL Gateway Career Center, located at 5000 Norwood Ave. in Jacksonville, also serves as the region’s only one-stop job center – also referred to as an American Job Center. Alongside CareerSource NEFL workforce representatives, the Literacy Alliance of Northeast Florida is among 11 agency partners on-site that provide additional assistance to job seekers.
The Literacy Alliance serves any adult in Northeast Florida over the age of 16. Most of its new students want to improve their literacy skills, obtain a high-school diploma and increase their job readiness. Often they want to improve their skills to find a job, get promoted at work, or gain a career license. Or, they have more personal goals such as reading the newspaper, engaging in their community or reading with their children and grandchildren.
Representatives from the Literacy Alliance are scheduled to be at the Gateway Career Center from 10 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday each week.
Those who come to the alliance for service will find its programming takes place throughout the community with flexible schedules and locations convenient for adult learners. Most programs take place at the Jessie Ball duPont Center in downtown Jacksonville. Other locations include Northside Community Involvement, the Urban League Springfield Community Center, and multiple locations with the Jacksonville Housing Authority.
Volunteer tutors meet with students in public locations, often in their neighborhoods, such as library branches, churches, and coffee shops. Additional sites for incarcerated adults are offered at all Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office facilities and the Jacksonville Reentry Center.
All program options are typically “open enrollment,” meaning students can start any time and stop temporarily if needed due to life, family or work changes – with an open invitation to return whenever they are ready.
For more information, visit https://literacyallnefl.org/.