The Scotland County Literacy Council could close due to lack of funding, officials with the organization said.

The Literacy Council's board of directors were allocated $800 in county discretionary money last week after the group said it had less than $10 in the bank.

The board has already made deep cuts in staffing, laying off Director Mark Gretch, cutting the hours of the administrative assistant and leaving just one full-time employee.

The Literacy Council is also behind on its annual mortgage payment of $6,500

and may have to fold if it can't find a way to pay its debt obligation on the Sanford House, the birthplace of Gov. Terry Sanford and current home of the Literacy Council, said Diana Altman, council board chairman.

The council was closed the last two weeks of July and has been closed on Fridays for more than a year. The council serves more than 200 people each year with literacy and tutoring help.

The organization has had to put off building maintenance as no funds are available to replace rotting boards and repaint the exterior, Altman said.

On Aug. 2, Altman made a plea to the county commissioners for help, arguing that after 35 years of teaching adults to read, the council deserved to receive funding.

She said that the presentation seemed to fall on deaf ears, with no commissioner making a comment, asking a question or offering cash, despite the discretionary funds made available for each commissioner in the county budget.

Only two commissioners have aided the council – Betty Blue Gholston and Joyce McDow – and the help may not be enough to keep the agency solvent, Altman said.

Even after slashing the budget, trimming personnel and active fundraising efforts, the council has raised nowhere near the $100,000 needed to meet their annual operating expenses.

The organization is getting some money, she said. The Morgan Foundation has pledged to grant funds and the federal government gives the Literacy Council reimbursements on some of their payroll costs through the community college system.

Still, other grants have been elusive. The annual contribution from Campbell Soup has yet to come and Altman is uncertain if the company is contributing this year as no word has come back on a grant application.

Literacy need

The nonprofit is the only local agency that works with adult basic education in individual and small group settings, Altman said.

Nearly 30 percent of adults in Scotland County are "functionally illiterate," Altman said, and the council plays an invaluable role in working with this segment of the population.

"The Literacy Council is a very important part of how this county provides educational needs to Scotland County," Altman said.

Illiteracy is particularly acute in Scotland County as those who worked in factories or as farm laborers rarely needed an education to do their jobs, she said. Now that many of the mills have closed, people have been left out of work without the skills they need to seek employment elsewhere.

The literacy needs are imperative, she said, as poor reading skills are associated with may perceived social ills – poverty, unemployment, welfare and health issues, to name a few.

Richmond Community College typically admit adults with an eighth grade reading level or above, Altman said, which leaves a wide range of people unserved by the community college.

Adults who have difficulty in classroom settings also rely on the council, she said.

The county's literacy needs have been a major topic in recent weeks, with area leaders gathering at a Literacy Summit, sponsored by Laurinburg/Scotland County Area Chamber of Commerce, that discussed learning needs in the community and possible solutions.

Illiteracy was labeled as one of the county's top hurdles in attracting jobs as Base Relocation and Closure brings tens of thousands of people to the region.

Barbara Alexander, executive director of the United Way of Scotland County, said every nonprofit is struggling this year.

"It's rough all around," Alexander said. "We have our annual campaign getting ready to start up and I've had a lot of people ask me if I'm worried this year."

No other organization has as dire a financial situation as the Literacy Council, she said.

"I hope that they (the Literacy Council) will turn it around," she said. "Their board is working hard to stay here."

Alexander described the nonprofit as "unique."

"No one else does what they do," she said. "We really need them here."