CHESTER COUNTY LITERACY COUNCIL
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Mission Statement
To increase community literacy and encourage lifelong learning by leading an active collaboration of literacy learners, providers and supporters.
About This Cause
Chester County – Say NO to Colon Cancer! Please help Chester County say no to colon cancer! According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), when all cancers are combined, Chester County has the highest incidence of cancer deaths among the forty-six (46) counties in South Carolina and has had the highest incidence for more than ten years. However, Chester County, population 32,244, is one of the smaller counties per capita in the state. Twenty-eight (28) counties have larger populations! These are the statistics, ... the numbers, but if you live in Chester County, you recognize the names ... name after name after name ... producing a dispirited and dismal outlook throughout the county, so much so that from pulpits to community gatherings, in workplaces and in homes, the frequent saying is, "There is a dark cloud over Chester!" Within Chester County, colorectal cancer is the second deadliest cancer. Yet, theoretically, no one should die from colon cancer, for there is a lifesaver from this cancer ... colonoscopy screening. Please help Chester County say no to colon cancer. Donate. Our goal is to fund the cost of one hundred eight (108) colonoscopy screens for age-eligible indigent patients of the local free medical clinic and/or the local federally-funded medical clinic yearly. Age-eligible for Say NO is defined as forty-five (45) years and older, as recommended by the American Cancer Society. Additionally, because studies show that persons with a family history of colon cancer before age 60 often develop colon cancer earlier than the general population, Say NO will provide screening for this target group at age forty (40). With this strategy, Say NO will equate health equity in screening and thereby eliminate the disparity often seen in access to colorectal healthcare. Our goal is $157,000 yearly for the next ten (10) years. Why ten years? With ten years of colonoscopy screening, Say NO can reach 50% of the indigent population in Chester County. The program’s potential to improve the colorectal health outlook of the county’s indigent population is neither dependent upon changes in this target group’s lifestyles or habits, (for which their socioeconomic conditions will not afford), nor is it dependent upon improvements in these residents’ educational or literacy levels. Instead, independently, Chester County – Say NO to Colon Cancer! will virtually reduce by 50% all preventable colorectal cancer deaths among the county’s indigent population over the next ten (10) years and beyond. The vision of Say NO is to remove Chester County from the bleak, ill-fated position of having the highest incidence of cancers among the forty-six (46) counties in South Carolina by the year 2032! Help Chester County - Say NO to Colon Cancer! achieve its goal of $157,000 yearly. Donate. ABOUT the Chester County Literacy Council The Chester County Literacy Council was established in 1984, by a group of citizens concerned about the unacceptably high rate of illiteracy in the county, as a nonsectarian, non-profit organization governed by a seven-member Board of Directors. Throughout the thirty-eight (38) year history, the Council has brought people from various races and cultures together in ways that empower them with the education, skill and support needed to improve conditions in their lives and in their communities. Through basic, workplace, family and health literacy programs, the educational offerings vary by need and skill. These efforts have taken place in schools, libraries, churches, community centers, county- and city-owned facilities, the YMCA, the detention center, the housing authority, industries and the free medical clinic. To achieve our mission, we have partnered with other non-profits, agencies serving the unemployed/underemployed, civic/social groups, fraternities/sororities, governmental agencies, churches, the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health and the South Carolina Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network. Statistically, the Council provides direct services and skills upgrade to an average of one hundred sixty-one (161) adults yearly. Our Slogan: Changing a generation ... one life at a time! Our Core Values: We believe in the power of literacy to end poverty, injustice, discrimination and violence; We believe that literacy empowers individuals to make better lives and worlds for themselves and their families; We know that adults who read and are literate raise children who read and do better in school and in life; We know that literacy helps families become healthier, support themselves through work, be better citizens and create a fairer and more just society. Our Vision: A 100% rate of adult literacy in Chester County by 2032! Our Programs: -Literacy 101, a basic, family and workplace literacy program, focuses on meeting individual needs, correcting negative learning and closing the gaps that cause failure. Program achievements include being recognized by the State of South Carolina’s Education Oversight Committee for replication of the model across South Carolina (2006) as well as being featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (April 2007) and the BI-LO Charity Classic Magazine (June 2011). -Nutrition Made Easy, a health literacy program, focuses on proper nutrition, adequate physical activity, not smoking and limited alcohol consumption as well as focusing on decreasing the incidence of heart disease, adult diabetes and certain types of cancer. The model has been published in a book, The Complete Guide to Developing Nutritional Skills (2014). Nutrition Made Easy promotes healthy lifestyle choices across age, gender, physical activity levels, monetary resources, settings, cultures, customs and diverse literacy levels. Program outcomes have been published in the Journal of Cancer Education (2013), Environmental International (2018) and the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health (September 2020). Additionally, the program has received the 2012 Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s Health and Wellness Award as well as being featured in Real Possibilities - AARP Magazine (2015) and a PBS Series, Your Health – A Sacred Matter (2016). This body of work continues to provide greater dissemination and implementation of evidence-based, plain-language health instruction throughout the community to thereby improve public health, prevent disease and reduce the cancer burden. -Chester County - Say NO to Colon Cancer! All programs and services of the Chester County Literacy Council are free and confidential to participants. The Board, staff and volunteers wholeheartedly believe that it is difficult to identify any other single cause that could have such a large pay-off as investing in literacy, for literacy is the great enabler! CHESTER COUNTY LITERACY COUNCIL 109 Ella Street P. O. Box 2045 Chester, South Carolina 29706 United States Phone (803) 581-1960