Literacy: Spanning the US
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Adult
Literacy League Is Struggling, And Needs Help To Stay Afloat | Commentary
Orlando
Sentinel: 7.01.2019 by Gina Solomon
Brittani
Bellamy of Orlando just wanted to be an “American girl” with a job and her own
apartment.
Trouble
was, she had little education, and her home schooling failed her. When she
applied for jobs, she didn’t understand the words on the application. Despite
being “nervous, afraid, embarrassed and shy,” Brittani, 24, went to the Adult Literacy League in 2013
for tutoring help. Today, Brittani is the American girl she had dreamed of
becoming. She has a job, an apartment and a level of literacy she once could
not have imagined.
The
Adult Literacy League has served three Central Florida counties — Orange,
Osceola and Seminole — for 51 years. But for the first time, grant funding has
slowed, and other key funding sources are in a holding pattern. Several of the
organization’s paid positions have had to be eliminated. In an effort to keep
the lights on this summer, a GoFundMe campaign, “$60,000 in 60 days,” has
launched. Here’s why the Adult Literacy League deserves some local love.
Created
by a group of dedicated volunteers in 1968, the league has helped thousands of
adults 18 and older increase their education enough to gain employment and
economic self-sufficiency. Today, the organization serves 1,500 active adult
students and 1,000 preschool-aged children and their families through
one-on-one tutoring by 300 trained volunteers, 60 classes across three counties
and the thriving Family Literacy Program.
READ
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High
Altitude Society: Literacy Luncheon Benefits The Literacy Project Nonprofit
Vail
Daily: 7.02.2019
“Literacy,
is the doorway to lifelong success,” said Literacy Project board
member Melanie Dennis,
On
June 27, the Literacy Project held its annual luncheon at the Four Seasons in
Vail. Liv|Sotheby’s International Realty sponsored the event, which played host
to Kirk Wallace Johnson, author of “The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession and
the Natural History Heist of the Century.”
The
nonprofit promotes reading and English literacy. It believes that if every man,
woman and child could read, write and comprehend, then the nation would be much
closer to solving many of its social problems. The group has several programs,
including adult literacy, study friends and math tutoring for middle schoolers,
reading buddies and “raising a reader.”
Student
Ira Solowitz had severe vision issues, which went uncorrected until he was 15.
By then, he was desperately behind with reading and writing. He called Sloan
Munter, director of education at the Literacy Project. She matched him up with
tutor Tara Van Dernott.
“The
smartest thing I did last year was to call Sloan,” Solowitz said. “I couldn’t
read, write or spell, and Tara has helped so much.” READ
MORE >>
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Literacy
Spring Update
Literacy
Volunteers-HBPL News: Spring 2019
Greetings
dear reader!
It
has been forever and a day since our last newsletter. If you've been staying in
touch with us via social media, you'll know how busy we have been in the past
few months.
On
November 1, 2018 learners and tutors spoke on behalf of the literacy
programs for our application for Community Development Block Grant Funds.
One of our learners, Maribet, shares her speech in our newsletter. It is a
wonderful reminder of why we are all committed to literacy and changing
learner's lives.
"Welcome
to our Oak View Branch Library. I hope you enjoy this wonderful day and
continue to enjoy. It's an honor to stand here in front of you and
at the same time, a challenge for me to say these words in English. My name is
Maribet. I am married and God blessed me with a son. He is seven years old and
my son is the reason I decided to come to the library and learn English.
Why
my son is the reason? I said to myself my son is growing up. He is going to
speak English and I want to understand what he says. When my son started
kindergarten, the homework they gave him should have been simple for an adult
to be able to help him but I could not help him. Not because I didn't want to
help him, but I didn't understand what he needed to do. And my son realized
that I didn't know English. He asked me "Mami, why do you not understand
English, didn't you go to school?" READ
MORE >>
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