NLS agreed that there was a need, but wanted to establish a separate, Francophone-run program. Originally, Graffiti's office was located atop Beat the Street's office on Shuter Street, and run by one staff person. According to one source, there was initial resistance to the program both from some sectors of the Francophone community, who did not wish to recognize illiteracy, and from some street agency staff, who held anti-French sentiments.

Graffiti serves diverse set of youth, including Franco-Ontarians, Acadians, and refugees from Francophone Africa. They provide small group literacy and numeracy, and literacy work linked with sewing, employment skills, and computers. One of Graffiti's projects is drop-out prevention programs in Francophone high schools. They also do outreach to Francophones in prisons and half-way houses.

In the United States

The Stewart B. McKinnes, Homeless Assistance Act, passed in 1987, was the first American federal legislation to acknowledge that homelessness had become more than a housing problem. The McKinney Act provided federal funding to state initiatives to address long term issues related to homelessness, including adult education. Prior to McKinney, only one American state funded education for the homeless.

The Adult Education for the Homeless (AEH) program was funded between 1987 and 1995. In the first year, 550 million was divided among all 50 states to fund education for adults who were homeless. Almost 18,000 people participated in AEH in the first year. Funding for programs was later restricted based on "success" and other evaluative criteria. Still, over the eight year period, more than 150,000 adults participated.

"The majority of initial efforts were carried out within Adult Basic Education programs that had already been prodding literacy education to adults. The steps were (already) in place to carry traditional literacy programs into homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and other homeless-oriented environments."²⁷

From funding reports and official project descriptions, the models of delivery and methodologies appear traditional. Many programs framed their efforts in the patronizing terms of helping people "meet their adult responsibilities" and "making them less likely to become dependent on others".²⁸

A 1990 American National Conference on Adult Education for the Homeless was held in conjunction with the "Life Management Conference." The conference proceedings noted that "in the context of growing homelessness in the US, an estimated 60% of the homeless lack the basic skills necessary to become self-sufficient or benefit from job training. " ²⁹

Indeed, the Mayor of New York recently proposed to deny shelter to homeless families who refused to participate in treatment and training programs, citing the "responsibility of the homeless to help themselves. "³⁰

This conservative agenda was evident in the official evaluation of the AEH program. While evaluation outcomes did include "achievement of personal goals" and "registering to vote", most stressed traditional goals, such as an increase in grade level, attaining GED or high school, improving in life skill areas, and getting off welfare. Despite the funder's strong focus on standardized and measurable outcomes, local providers insisted that in their experience, "achievement of personal goals and social/psychological gains" were among the leading indicators of success.³¹

Despite the apparent limitations of the AEH program, the provision of substantial funding for adult education for poverty stricken Americans can be seen as a profoundly progressive act. Indeed, this funding became a site of struggle in the 1995 American budget debate, when the Republican-dominated House proposed the complete elimination of funding for AEH. Current McKinney Act funding - and American literacy and homelessness work - is now focussed primarily on the education of homeless children.³²