SILVER CITY, N.M. – Literacy Link - Leamos has received a $22,000 grant from the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation's Grant County Community Investment Fund. These funds will support a series of workshops to prepare adults for local skilled jobs.

The new workshops include resume building, applying for jobs online, and interview skills. Attendees can also sign up for free one-to-one tutoring to support their career goals. 50% of Grant County adults have literacy levels below what most jobs require. This project dovetails with Literacy Link – Leamos' mission to raise literacy levels in Grant County through free tutoring and outreach.

"We're thrilled with this grant," said Mary Beth Folia, Program Director. "We try to offer educational programs that help Grant County people get what they need most, whether that's an entry-level job, a job for more experienced workers, or more education." Folia's ideas for the job-related workshops came up when some participants in a Beginning Computers class talked about not being able to apply for jobs at Walmart and Wendy's because they didn't know how to access and fill out the required online applications.

Literacy Link also offers free small classes and one-to-one tutoring in learning to speak English, studying for high school equivalency exams, gaining citizenship or improving reading, writing and math skills. Their Let's Read program gives thousands of new books to Grant County school children every year.

Freeport McMoRan's Community Investment Funds (CIFs) award grants through a competitive application and review process. The CIFs engage community leaders to cultivate and assess projects that address identified community priorities (developed at Community Partnership Panels). The CIFs award funds to projects that encourage local capacity-building, community development and sustainability.