Literacy – Spanning the US :: Bonita Springs FL :: Hendersonville NC :: San Diego CA

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.     

Literacy Council

Gulf Coast

Literacy Council leads the way to success

Naples Spotlight: 2.16.2018 by Ann Marina

Naples resident Vincent Carosella teaches English as a Second Language for nine hours each week through the Literacy Council Gulf Coast. He’s been volunteering for 16 years.

“I wanted to help people who are new to our culture,” he said, “so they can more easily assimilate here.” Some of Carosella’s students have obtained better jobs by improving their language skills.

After each lesson, he asks if they learned something new. “Their answer is always yes,” he said. “I’m happy if they learn just one new thing at each meeting.”

Originally from New York, Carosella is retired and lives in Naples for six months each year.

“Some of my clients come and go for personal or work-related reasons,” he said, “but if they stay for the six months when I’m here, they make excellent progress. That is evidenced in my quarterly reports.”

As one of the largest organizations in the country devoted to adult and family literacy, Literacy Council Gulf Coast has provided services for students across Lee County and North Naples for 25 years.

“Every student has unique goals and needs, and we work to help them reach their objectives,” said LCGC President and CEO Susan Holman. About 4,000 people received instruction through LCGC programs in fiscal year 2016-17.

The Family Literacy Program includes the Moms and Tots program and the Kids+ Lifelong Learning Initiative.  READ MORE >>

Blue Ridge

Literacy Council

Blue Ridge Literacy Council Inmate Program – Henderson County
Tribune Papers: 2.15.2018 by Heather Berry

On Feb. 7, thirteen inmates graduated from a life skills training program in the Henderson County Jail. Sheriff Charles S. McDonald, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and the Blue Ridge Literacy Council congratulated two classes of inmates, one male and female, after they completed a four-week long module in a pilot program developed by the Literacy Council.

The Self-Advocacy and Empowerment workshops promote healthy, lawful, foundational skill building for life and work. Students learned about self-awareness, empowerment, change potentiality, conflict resolution, goal setting and emotional intelligence. The class also connected students with various resources offered in Henderson County to assist them with their educational goals. The workshops were offered on a voluntary basis and had no effect on the participants’ charges, status or sentencing.

Amber Hollinger, the Adult Basic Education Coordinator with the Blue Ridge Literacy Council, said “It has been great to come in and work with men and women in a workshop environment to connect with them, hear their stories and concerns as we deliver skill building that helps them to strengthen areas in their lives. The hope is, and the research shows, that it will be more likely they will improve their quality of life and less likely that they’ll be returning to jail.”  READ MORE >>

@SDLiteracy

Meet Jose L. Cruz of San Diego Council on Literacy in Mission Valley

SD Voyager: 2.15.2018

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose L. Cruz.

Jose, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.

My work in literacy began in 1985. I made a transition from teaching and joined Project READ which was the new adult literacy program for the National City Public Library. As it turns out, National City still has the lowest rate of adult literacy among the 18 cities in San Diego County.

At Project READ, I was a student-tutor coordinator, tutor trainer, and Executive Director, all between 1985 and 1988.

In 1986, the San Diego Council on Literacy (SDCOL) was formed. For the first time in history, San Diego County had a literacy coalition. This corresponded with Project Literacy U.S. (PLUS), which was the national ABC and PBS campaign for adult literacy in America. Things got big and busy fast!

In 1988, I joined the SDCOL as its first paid staff person. My job was to serve the needs of the network of affiliated literacy programs that belonged to the coalition. At that time, there were five programs in the coalition. Today, there are 27.

After 14 years with the SDCOL, I worked for California Literacy, a statewide literacy coalition. This was probably my dream job, but, after three years, California Literacy was forced to close down. All of us were saddened because we had actually delivered on our vision of producing a statewide effort for literacy. My job at that time was to, again, attend to the needs of the hundreds of programs that made up the California literacy network.

For the next two years, 2005-2006, I was the first executive director for the Southern California Library Literacy Network. At the end of the 2006, the SDCOL called me back to serve as its CEO. I have been the SDCOL’s CEO for going on 12 years now. All along, I kept my head down and learned all that I could along the way. When I looked up, 12 years had passed.  READ MORE >>