This morning, Marsha Roadhouse and Heather Barker of Community Learning Alternatives (www.cla-buildingskills.ca) described what they do and who they help.  Built to help people enhance their skills in all areas, CLA recognizes that in today's world and with the rapidly evolving workplace, many feel 'left behind' and know they need to increase their skills (in many cases) to simply keep their job.
 
Marsha and Heather reminded us that literacy is not only the the inability to read and write, but in today's world also includes math deficiencies, digital illiteracy, and the inability to solve problems in a digital workplace.  We learned that 46% of people don't have the skills to participate in the workplace and 48% are lacking necessary mathematical skills.  CLA offers those who are interested individualized training programs to help those wishing to improve themselves in these areas.  In addition, it's been proven that skilled and confident people are also more likely to stay out of the criminal justice system.
 
Their organization has offices in Belleville, Trenton, and roving offices in the other areas of Hastings County.  We are thankful that CLA is in our community to help improve the confidence of those within it.