We believe that literacy is a human right. It encompasses the ability to
read with understanding, and to write to be understood. Literacy
empowers adults affected by homelessness to take control of their own
lives; without it their disadvantages are compounded.

Adults experiencing low literacy and
homelessness should expect:

1. A range of local options to be available

- to develop their reading and writing skills
- to enrich their experiences of literature through shared reading activities

2. Homelessness and housing organisations

- to recognise and address literacy needs as a core part of their work
- to provide access to the technology that will assist their literacy, communication and engagement with the digital world
3. Learning providers
- to allocate the most skilled teachers and the most flexible provision to learners with the fewest literacy skills
- to offer sustained, specialist support for people with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia
- to respond to the psychological needs of learners affected by trauma
4. National and local policy-makers
- to make addressing their literacy needs a higher priority
- to allocate resources to achieve these expectations