Pushmataha County Literacy Council - Profile

Pushmataha County has about 11,000 people scattered around an area of 14,000 square miles of the Kiamichi Mountains in Southeastern Oklahoma. Only 4500 people live in the towns. It is a challenge to get the message to the people who need our help and have them come into town for tutoring.

More than 30 percent of our families live below the poverty level. Not being able to read tends to keep a person from improving their economic status.

Twenty five percent of our adults are functionally illiterate. (Level One Literacy) A person at Level One Literacy can usually sign their name, but cannot locate eligibility from a table of employee benifits. They can often identify a country in a short article, but have difficulty locating an intersection on a street map. One piece of information can usually be found in a sports article, but not always a second one. They can locate the expiration date on their driver's license, but cannot enter background information on a social security card application. They may be able to total a deposit, but cannot total costs of a purchase from an order form. These are just a few of the indicators of a person at Level One Literacy. It is important to remember, however, that each person is a unique individual and has their own set of capabilities and needs. That's how they are treated by the volunteers at the Pushmataha County Literacy Council.