One huge roadblock for many people trying to find jobs is weak reading and writing skills. Both are vital on the employment application and resume, where lack of basic proficiency relegates you immediately to the waste basket. Once on the job, those skills are needed during training and orientation sessions, for responding to written questions and instructions (especially in this modern email world), and dealing with all sorts of job-related paperwork, from estimates to invoices.
You can help people get and keep a job–become a volunteer tutor for English-speaking adults who read or write below a 9th-grade level. If you’d rather work with families, volunteer at programs like my local library’s Families for Literacy program. All you need is a willing heart and a little time, because the library or organization will train you.
Finding a job is hard enough in this economy without the burden of being labeled illiterate. Help give job-seekers a fighting chance.