Literacy: Spanning the U.S.
Volunteers
Motivated To Help Learners Toward A Better Life
Among
them is Carolyn Gibson, a retired telecommunications worker who said she has
always loved words and reading. She spends about four hours each week at the
organization’s downtown location helping learners like Rochelle Robinson.
“We
are making progress,” Gibson said of her work with Robinson. “She is determined
to learn.”
The
two women have built a rapport that makes learning easy, and Gibson feels like
she is helping Robinson better navigate life.
“That
is what motivates me,” she said.
When
the clock strikes noon on a recent Wednesday morning, Robinson knows she has to
leave. She has spent about two hours working with Gibson on her reading skills,
but now she must catch a bus. As she gathers her things, Gibson stays put,
writing notes about what the two have accomplished that day.
“Are
you going to work on this?” asks Gibson, calling after Robinson to remind her
about a reading lesson they had been working on.
Julie
Davis of YWCA: 'Immigrants and refugees in Tulsa come from all around the
world'
Julie
Davis is CEO of YWCA
Tulsa. The agency works to eliminate racism, empower women,
stand up for social justice, help families and strengthen communities.
1.
You joined the YWCA almost a year ago. Tell us about some of the projects you
have worked on and how your mission is impacting Tulsa.
With
our mission, we focus on breaking down barriers for and investing in the
successes of women, girls and people of color. A considerable amount of our
work is done in serving marginalized populations, such as the immigrants and
refugees who live in our community.
Very
often, these individuals — because of the language barrier, the color of their
skin or their cultural differences — experience racism in a variety of forms.
Our legal services, adult education classes and employment services help to
address some of the barriers people face, and we also focus on education in the
community to dismantle misconceptions people have about this population.
2.
How does the YWCA work with companies to educate and empower them with tools in
hiring and working with immigrants and refugees?
Education
is key, as well as developing relationships. We do lunch-and-learns on various
topics concerning immigration and refugees, and we also provide on-site
education courses to do contextualized English language classes.
Another
way we work with businesses is through our interpretation and translation
services, so if employers need documents translated or interpreters during the
hiring process, employee trainings, yearly benefit meetings or in other
instances, we can provide interpreters in Spanish, Burmese, Zomi, Arabic and
Russian, as well as connect them to resources for additional languages.
3.
How is the YWCA working to empower immigrant and refugee women?
Our
focus is on the family and allowing the women to access our services without
barriers. One common barrier for women is childcare, and so last year we
officially became a certified family literacy program. We offer on-site classes
for children ages 0 to 5 to take at the same time that their parents are in our
adult education classes. READ MORE >>
He
was feeling lost and aimless. Then he found the Literacy Council and a mentor
who saw him as a son
Dennis
De Leon drove by the office three times before working up the nerve to step
inside.
The
implications of that decision – choosing to engage the Literacy Council of
Grand Island – would not only alter his life in a profound
way, it would ripple to impact many more.
“It’s
really important we try to help others,” he says. “I think, in life, we are
here to serve.”
A
maintenance worker by trade, De Leon immigrated to the United States from
Guatemala in 2003. After spending five years in Omaha and some time in Austin,
Texas, he settled in Grand Island. And then it hit him – a sense that he was
watching too much TV and wasting his life.
“I
wanted to do more things,” he says.
So
the self-professed “shy person,” with a limited grasp of English, stopped
circling and connected with the Literacy Council, an outreach funded in part by
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. As fate would have it, he was paired
with volunteer tutor Densel Rasmussen, longtime business and community leader.
“We
had a special connection the very first time we met,” De Leon recalls.
De
Leon’s English language literacy quickly improved as the two worked together
week-after-week. But to hear him tell it, that’s the least of what Rasmussen
taught him. READ MORE >>
Couple
finds new start in Pueblo library's online high school program
A
mere five years ago, Stephanie and Alma Tellez were high school dropouts with
scattershot employment, living in a heater-less vehicle and relying on candles
and a low-energy blow dryer to keep from freezing to death.
Today,
the married couple has a stable home, a reliable income and, perhaps most
importantly, a foothold on the future.
A
full-fledged, state-accredited and funded high school diploma program, Career Online High School affords adults
19 and older the chance to pursue -- at their own pace and within their own
homes -- a diploma. And with that vital credential, a chance at a future
bursting not with bleakness but promise.
To
be accepted into the program, hopefuls must be interviewed, submit an essay
highlighting their goals and score at least 70 percent on a prerequisite
course.
At
present, the enterprise is capped out with 40 students.
"This
is the only program that offers a diploma, not a GED equivalency, for
adults," said Jackie Swanson, adult literacy director for the library
district. "It is accessible for those with a busy schedule, such as single
moms, or working men and women." READ MORE >>
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