Literacy Together Volunteers Make The World a Better Place!
“Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections when they arise, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in.” Anonymous
Literacy Together is celebrating our 35th year of transforming lives and communities through the power of literacy. Our work is accomplished by, through, and with the commitment and dedication of volunteer tutors. Throughout the year, volunteers touch the lives of children who struggle to read; provide encouragement to adults with the courage to overcome the barrier of low literacy, and work alongside immigrants motivated to learn the language of their new community. It requires technical skills, patience, persistence, a sense of humor, and the desire to be of service.
We currently have more than 220 volunteers who have been willing to continue their work throughout the pandemic by being creative with the use of Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp, Skype, and even plain old phone calls.
So, during this National Volunteer Month - but also every day throughout the year - we say THANKS to each and every one of you!!!
A special thanks to ten amazing individuals who have volunteered for Literacy Together for ten years or more. (I apologize in advance if any names are missing from this list—-please let us know who you are):
Dian Leeper—2004
Anne Dachowski—2005
Mary Sugeir—2006
Katie Winchell—2006
Marianne Newman—2008
Linda Kane—2010
Kathryn Kowal—2011
Linda Van Tuyl—2011
Jim McGlinn—2011
Martha Woolverton—2011
We honor your contribution to making the world a better place. And we look forward to continuing our work together in the future.
With gratitude,
Cindy Threlkeld
Executive Director
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Two Approaches to Family Literacy
In Literacy Together's strategic plan for 2020-2025, one of the new areas we identified for possible expansion of services was family literacy - which can take a variety of forms but has as its core component the involvement of both children and parents in literacy activities. One way we've begun to implement this is through a partnership with the Verner Center for Early Learning, a local Early Head Start and pre-K program that provides both on-site and home-based literacy services to children, many of whose parents are immigrants. We have trained several of their teaching staff as ESOL instructors, and they're now providing free English classes to parents of the children served by Verner.
Another novel approach has evolved more organically and consists of Taylor and Becky, two members of one family tutoring three members of another family. This is their story.
Taylor had just moved back to Buncombe County when he came to one of our online volunteer orientation meetings in December. He had traveled in many Spanish-speaking countries, he had taught English before, and he had the desire to bring his expertise to our community. After finishing his training he was matched with Lázaro, "a student who is wonderful, he's very engaged, he's very excited to learn."
During their first lesson together, Lázaro asked him if he could speak with his wife for a moment, and that's how Taylor met Gloria, who had been on the ESOL waiting list for some time. Gloria asked Taylor if he'd be willing to teach her. "Absolutely," was his answer and, since then, he's been teaching the couple separately, meeting each one of them once a week for two hours.
Gigi, the daughter of Lázaro and Gloria, is a charismatic fourth-grader who would often join her parents' classes to help them. Taylor's mom, Becky, is a Title 1 Reading Teacher at a local elementary school, and she was thrilled when her son asked her if she would be willing to help Gigi with her reading and her English. She meets with Gigi twice a week for 30 minutes. Watch the video to learn more about how this family is supporting another family and how their connection is blossoming!
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Second Chance Month, April 2021
“Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.”
Jean-Paul Sartre
In April 2021, in observance of Second Chance month, Literacy Together would like to reaffirm its commitment to our students who face significant barriers re-entering society from prison. At a minimum, they often struggle to find stable work and housing, receive adequate care for their physical and mental health, access essential public assistance, and reconnect to their families and communities.
At Literacy Together, we partner with students who choose to devote a large part of their lives to improving their literacy. That in itself is a demanding and long-term project for any individual, but especially daunting for any of the 75% of the prison population that is estimated to be illiterate. Our tutors and staff may work alongside students who have been victims of crime, perpetrators of crime, or subject to inequitable treatment in the judicial system. For those who carry the weight of their past and the trauma of their incarceration, it is important for us to affirm that all of these lives are equally valuable -- and equally full of promise.
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The heart of our mission is to create a more literate, equitable, healthy, and vibrant community
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Mount Inspiration chooses Literacy Together (thank you!)
Mount Inspiration is a sustainable apparel shop in downtown Asheville that does a monthly fundraiser to support local nonprofits. Literacy Together is the nonprofit for April. They will be donating $10 of every sale of this t-shirt designed just for literacy! Get yours this month only!
39 Broadway St.
(828) 484-2318
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Meet our team!
Each month we portray a member of our amazing team. Today, Erin Sebelius, the director of the ESOL Program.
I have been with Literacy Together since 2005.
Things I'd love to learn in my lifetime: Maybe one more language :)
My favorite things to do: hiking/backpacking, traveling, learning languages.
My favorite quote: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness" (Mark Twain)
What I like best about Literacy Together: I love working in an environment where I hear multiple languages every day, and I'm inspired by the generosity of our volunteers and the hard work our students do! Language is empowering and I feel good about the work that I do to help others access that power.
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Our community is getting stronger every day
50 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 have donated items from our Amazon Wishlist!
Thank you for your support!
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| Online Volunteer Orientations
Tuesday, May 4th
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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