BENEFITS

A Trails project benefits many different groups:

• Participants
• Literacy Agency
• Partners
• Community

The benefits to the participants are evident almost immediately as they gain better academic, communications, research and teamwork skills.The participatory nature of the learning increases their goal-setting, decision-making and problem-solving abilities. As they are treated as equal, valued members of the group, their pride and self-confidence grows.

Trails to Literacy is an ideal platform to develop and demonstrate literacy skills. It allows the learner to apply their knowledge in authentic situations. They can learn individual skills, develop their abilities to apply these skills and practice by doing actual tasks. The learners are immediately able to understand how the skills are used in everyday living and working. Demonstrations are used to assess learners knowledge and performance within real life applications.

Working with a community-centred project like Trails provides participants with a wider perspective of community development and allows them opportunities to network. This connection to the community, combined with the real-life experiences gained, improves their possibilities for employment.

For literacy agencies, Trails provides a positive marketing tool, promoting literacy and its benefits. It shows the true value of outcome-based learning, to both participants and the community. Agencies referring participants for learning or work placement quickly see the change in their clients and the positive outcomes of the project.

• There has been up 7 times more Ontario Works referrals for some agencies.
• Some agencies reported up to a 50% increase in contact hours after Trails to Literacy was initiated.
• 89% of new clients who came to one of the agencies came for the Trails project.

The other partners in the Trails projects share in all the positive exposure gained by the literacy agencie's. However, there are other advantages as well. Trails to Literacy provides the learning and work placement experience that referring partners need for their clients. Special interest groups have the opportunity to share their expertise and enthusiasm, while getting extra 'people-power' to complete activities.

Each community benefits in a different way, as each project is geared to the unique circumstances and resources of the area. Some areas might enjoy increased tourism or a better understanding of their history, environment or culture. Others might gain improvements in the environment or the population's health.

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