Adult education provider Literacy Services of Wisconsin will be relocating its headquarters next year amid a growing need for adult literacy services.
The organization, currently located at 555 N. Plankinton Ave. in downtown Milwaukee, purchased a building for its new headquarters at 1737 N. Palmer St. in the city’s Brewer’s Hill neighborhood for $885,000, according to state records. Literacy Services purchased the site from 1737 N. Palmer LLC.
Literacy Services is currently pursuing individual, private and corporate foundations to meet the projected $3,197,000 cost budgeted for the new headquarters, said Holly McCoy, executive director of Literacy Services.
“We have seen a growing need for our services, especially as other social service organizations have either shifted or consolidated or even closed their services,” McCoy said. “There’s that increasing need for adult literacy education, and we just needed more access to multiple classroom spaces and opportunities for our individualized volunteer tutoring to have it on site as well.”
The Brewer’s Hill headquarters will open in spring 2025. McCoy said the goal is for the organization to be settled in by June.
Literacy Services will share a transition plan for programming in early 2025, according to the organization’s website. The organization’s current lease at the downtown headquarters ends Dec. 31, 2025.
Literacy Services does not plan to close any of its satellite locations, according to the organization’s website.
The new headquarters will have a virtual broadcast room, as 30 to 40% of Literacy Services students learn virtually, according to the organization’s website. There will also be a GED testing center on site.
“Literacy Services is doing so much good for adult learners in our city and this really helps us get to the next level of community support by providing a permanent home in a great location for students, volunteers and staff,” board chair Colin Hutt said in a statement.
