As we move into our 35th year, with a new name and fresh momentum for our mission, we appreciate your partnership more than ever
We are poised to do more of what we do best – transforming lives and communities through the power of literacy. With your support, we are already serving more individuals than at this time last year.
• Total number served: over 200 students and over 4,200 monthly children’s book recipients.
• New Citizens: 7 so far this program year (July 1 to June 30).
• Volunteer tutor orientations: 13, with 158 total attendees.
• Volunteer tutor training classes: 12.
• New volunteer tutors: 134.
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We are honoring our tutor and friend, Ben Ansley, who passed on February 20, 2021
Ben and his wife, Sara Sterling, have been tutors in the Adult Literacy program since 2019. Sara describes what drew Ben to this work: "the main reason we got involved with Literacy Together was because he had a business friend who confided to him over a beer that he couldn't read and how he would hide it and compensate for it. That experience inspired Ben to want to help someone learn to read, and when we landed in Asheville, it was the right time and place and something we could do together on a volunteer basis."
Like Ben's friend, his student also had a full-time job and had hidden his illiteracy for many years. He was also a father, and he worried as he saw his child struggling with the same literacy issues that he had never gotten help with. When he started to work with Ben, who was a few decades older, he found in him a tutor, friend, partner, and mentor. After a year of hard work on both ends, Ben's student moved up to the next literacy level. At the student’s request, they read a large print Bible together, and they also shared their Christian faith. In the time they spent working together, he learned the strategies he needed to begin his life as a true reader.
Though he continues to work at his reading, Ben’s student has gained confidence and hope in the learning process, and that will last the rest of his life. To encourage his future as a reader, and to keep him connected to Ben in a very meaningful way, Sara passed on to him Ben's set of Louis L'Amour books that they read together every week. When he picked them up, along with a nice winter coat of Ben’s and a few tools he can use for work, he said, "Ben sure loved his books." And he noted one more thing that anybody who met Ben would also remember: "He really made me laugh."
To learn more about Ben and see comments from his family and friends, visit his obituary page here and see his artwork.
We give our love and thanks to both Ben and Sara. They have shown us how life-changing this work is for everyone connected to it -- and how much they have changed the lives of the people connected to them.
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March 8th was International Women's Day, and March is National Women's History Month
Did you know that, according to Proliteracy, a mother's reading skill is the greatest determinant of her children's future academic success, outweighing other factors, such as neighborhood and family income?
According to the same source, children of less-educated parents are much more likely to become low-skilled adults. U.S. adults who have parents with low levels of education are 10 times more likely to have low skills than are those who have higher-educated parents.
The education of girls and women is vital to break the cycle of generational poverty. We honor the women of our community who are making history every day. Thank you!
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Meet our team!
Each month for the next seven months we'll be portraying a member of our amazing team. Today, LuAnn Arena.
I have been with Literacy Together since: I started as a tutor in 2014 (still tutoring) and started in July 2015 as the Development Director.
Things I'd love to learn in my lifetime: I would love to learn to speak more languages - especially Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. It is exciting and connecting to be able to speak with someone in their language.
My favorite things to do are: I love creating art and music, reading, yoga, biking, hiking, cooking, and teaching my cat cool tricks.
My favorite quote: "Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity".
– Charles Mingus
What I like best about Literacy Together:
What I like best is knowing that the work students and tutors do together is something that will remain with the student long after their time with us. I like knowing that they have the tools that will allow them to make informed choices, express themselves, and educate themselves as they choose.
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Evelyn (age 5) recently graduated from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. She sent us this beautiful drawing of her with one of her books as a thank you note!
“I love my books, they make me happy to get them every month! My big brother and my mommy and daddy read them to me. I liked getting the books in the mail.”
We're now shipping books to over 4,200 children! You can register your child here.
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Our community is getting stronger every day!
31 NEW VOLUNTEER TUTORS have joined Literacy Together in 2021! Is someone you know ready to work with us? Please help us spread the word! People can sign up online to volunteer or they can send an email to laura@lit-together.org.
Do you have kids' books you'd like to donate to our little libraries? Please contact laura@lit-together.org.
THANK YOU to all of you who donated items from our Amazon Wishlist!
Thank you for your support!
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| Online Volunteer Orientations
Tuesday, April 6th
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
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DONATE
Your generosity provides literacy services to our neighbors of every age.
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