Project Communi-Link, for example, reaches 26 selected rural communities in 14 western states. Communi-Link is a system that structures working relationships among a variety of organizations. It works to help rural communities improve the social and economic well-being of residents through expanded opportunities for Adult Basic Education and GED preparation. Finally, technology increases the potential to reach adults in rural areas. These media include films, newspapers, radios, records, audiotapes, various periodicals, and satellite broadcasts.
Some conditions limit the scope, and sometimes threaten the survival, of such programs.
The funding that does exist may be divided among a variety of agencies, all competing for a share of it. This competition makes it difficult for agencies to coordinate their efforts. Despite their goals, these programs nonetheless tend to define their success in terms of increased literacy, not economic improvement. If the advertised economic benefits fail to develop, these programs can lose the support of external funding sources. Despite these problems, however, rural literacy programs manage to persist and to succeed.