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In response to their concern over the illiteracy rate among adults in the Dallas area, the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Greater Dallas Section, founded LIFT in 1961. The goal was to create and support an organization that would offer free and easily accessible classes so that functionally illiterate adults could learn to read and write English.
The Frank Laubach Foundation for World Literacy, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital and The Dallas Morning News were also instrumental in the development of LIFT and its programs. LIFT brought in Bill Collins from Memphis to start the classes. Teaching via television, Collins used Frank Laubach's method of literacy instruction, which was developed to teach natives of the Samoan Islands to read.
LIFT's early efforts were truly a community collaboration. WFAA-TV agreed to publish ads to recruit teachers and volunteers. The Dallas Independent School District, under the leadership of Dr. W.T. White, provided classroom space in 32 schools for night classes. Maurice Carlson offered office space on Ervay Street, and 20 merchants provided television and maintenance contracts. Both WFAA-TV and KERA-TV agreed to run a teaching series as a public service announcement at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m., five days a week.
LIFT's Mission Statement is to enhance lives and strengthen communities by raising the adult literacy rate in Texas, and they were able to do just that. The response was overwhelming doors opened on June 5, 1961 with 250 volunteers, including teacher Margaret Hirsh, and more than six hundred adult learners were served the first year. That year, The Dallas Times Herald awarded the NCJW its Club of the Year Award for their work establishing LIFT.
That would be the first of many awards and honors LIFT would receive during its history. To name a few, in 2003, LIFT received a grant from the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy for its Family Literacy Programs. In 2005, LIFT staff members spoke at the Pro-Literacy Worldwide Conference where they presented LIFT's innovative and successful Community Partnership Program model. This model involves LIFT's strategic initiative to work with community partners to establish its classes at partner sites in areas of the community tat are currently underserved. In 2006, LIFT was honored by the Center for Non-Profit Management for their excellence in board governance.
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Through the years, LIFT moved its headquarters around Dallas, moving to the Wilson Historic District in 1993, and to its current location at 2121 Main Street in 2003.
The founding organization and the subsequent management of LIFT continue to assist low literate adults to be more fully participating citizens, better prepared workers and more involved parents. The expansion of services to include English as a Second Language classes has expanded LIFT's reach into the community by including tax paying adult immigrants.
Participation in LIFT classes has continued to increase each year. Between 2004 and 2007, the number of adult learners participating in LIFT programs increased by 292% from 2,103 to 6,141.
In 2008 LIFT launched GED Direct, a first-of-its-kind distance learning project that makes GED preparation available to adult learners in suburban and smaller urban areas through LIFT's website. The original network of users involves ten websites in three counties.
Mrs. Ruth Adler
Mrs. Seymour Alhadef
Mrs. Ruth Andres
Mrs. Valerie Aronoff
Mrs. Katherine Bauer
Mrs. Barbara Bubis
Mrs. Jeanne Fagadau*
Mrs. Dorace Fichtenbaum
Mrs. Emme Sue Frank*
Mrs. Florence Goldstein
Mrs. Barbara Greene
Mrs. Louise Mittenthal
Mrs. Anita Marcus
Mrs. Janet Newberger
Mrs. Pat Peiser*
Mrs. Esther Rosenthal
Mrs. Rita Rubenstein
Mrs. Lorraine Schein
Mrs. Bette Claire Schuttler*
Mrs. Shirley Tobolowsky
Mrs. Frances Tocker
Mrs. Joan Weinberg
Mrs. Louette Weiser
*principal founders
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