How Community Development Block Grant and City Funds Have Supported Education Opportunities
posted
Literacy and education have a direct, tangible effect on the health of a community. Better education opens the door to better opportunities, whether they're in the form of a postsecondary degree, a new job, or building a better future for your family. Those opportunities then serve as a building block towards more opportunities, in turn increasing economic mobility and more access to family-sustaining wages.
Over the past five decades, the City of Madison has supported organizations like the Literacy Network and the Omega School, which have changed the lives of thousands of people in the Madison area. Whether it’s been through English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, GED prep classes, helping people gain United States citizenship, or one of their many other programs, they have worked to help make dreams come true.
The City of Madison has an extensive relationship with both the Literacy Network and the Omega School that dates back decades, fostered through similar priorities, including the idea of shared prosperity. If we can create a community where everyone, regardless of their background, is able to achieve economic success and social mobility, Madison will thrive as it grows into the future.
The Literacy Network was first founded in 1974, while the Omega School was founded in 1972. Both have helped thousands of people over the last 50 years, showing the kind of tangible, long-lasting impact the City of Madison's Community Development Division seeks to support through Community Development Block Grant funds it receives from the federal government, as well as through its annual operating budget.
Prior to merging in 2025 following the retirement of longtime Omega School Executive Director Oscar Mireles, the Literacy Network and the Omega School both served the greater Madison area for 50 years with the help of City funds and Community Development Block Grant funding. Since merging, the two have combined their resources and expertise to expand services and create new pathways for students to move between programs.
The programs are just two examples of the good work being done in our community that is supported by a combination of CDBG funds and other funding sources, including the Community Development Division's Youth, Young Adult and Adult Employment RFP and its Crisis Intervention and Prevention RFP.
About Community Development Week
The City of Madison is celebrating National Community Development Week and 50 years of receiving federal Community Development Block Grant funds. To highlight the impact and importance federally- and City-supported non-profits and service providers have had on Madison over the past 50 years, the Community Development Division will be sharing stories every day this week detailing the work that has been done in that time and how those programs are benefiting the community today.
