Literacy Services of Indian River County has grown considerably since its founding by a small group of education-minded women in 1971. And now, with the addition of a spacious new Tutor Training Center scheduled to open in January, the non-profit is poised to reach an even greater portion of the population.
The organization’s primary mission is to provide free, confidential, one-on-one tutoring to adults and high school students struggling with literacy, including English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Recognizing that a key component in the educational advancement of children is having parents who can read to them and help with their homework, they also focus on promoting family literacy.
Tutor workshops were conducted at various churches until 1991, when the Main Library was completed and Mary Snyder, director of the library system, provided the organization with an office and access to meeting rooms and study cubicles. But as the services expanded, the small office began to burst at the seams.
The new Tutor Training Center is the result of a fortuitous conversation last January between Indian Trails homeowner Peter Walker and his landscaper, Jeff Gomez, owner of Beech Annuals Nursery.
“I told Jeff that we definitely needed a building. We were idea-rich and cash-short,” says Walker, a Literacy Services board member. “What struck Jeff was that he understood the critical need, based on his employee base.”
“I extended an arm and said I had a facility that was available, and it just went from there,” says Gomez. He and wife Suzie are providing the space rent-free for three years, with a nominal rate thereafter.
“We are so excited,” says Suzie Gomez. “We employ 250 people and there are some, I’m sure, that never got proper education. They’re from different countries. That’s why we felt very compassionate about the organization.”
With 12- and 16-year old sons, at Oslo Middle School and Vero Beach High School, they have close friends in the education field.
“They’re very familiar with the organization and have definitely shown some interest in becoming volunteers,” she adds.
“We’re still going to keep a presence at the library; it’s very important,” says Don Mann, Literacy Services board president.
“It’s centrally located, which makes for easy access,” explains Mary Silva, executive director, noting that the organization will maintain a supply of workbooks at the library and utilize it for student tutoring, but all tutor training will occur at the new facility. Student tutoring takes place at various locations around the county, including businesses, churches and community rooms.
In researching other adult literacy programs, Silva determined that the most successful ones had full-time Tutor Training directors with the expertise to help tutors work effectively with their students. Linda Levine, a PhD and a worldwide expert on training educations to effectively teach adults, volunteered her time as a consultant and her analysis concurred.
Linda Coakley, a retired principal who taught for years in an impoverished area of the Northeast, has been hired for the position and begins in January. Coakley has a Master’s degree in Remedial Reading, is trained in the Orton-Gillingham reading method and has spent several years as a Literacy Services tutor and tutor trainer.
“The other thing that Linda Levine commented on is that our organization is very unique, even among adult literacy programs nationally, because we focus on what the student needs, as opposed to other organizations that tell students, ‘this is what you have to learn.’ Our students’ needs and skill sets are so varied, it’s unbelievable,” said Silva.
“Now the tutors will have someone who can help them professionally to deal with the different issues with their students,” says Mann. “If they do that, the students stay in the program longer, they learn faster and they become more productive in the community.”
Of two students he tutored, Mann says, “One of them wanted to learn to read because he wanted to read the Bible. The other one wanted to be able to write checks, make grocery lists; he wanted to be able to do simple things to live. At the annual Love of Literacy luncheon, there’s never a dry eye in the room. The students are so incredibly grateful and they’ve grown so much. And there are so many more of them out there.”
Large and small rooms at the new center will enable the organization to offer group sessions for broad topics such as comprehension, eventually videotaping them for online access, as well as individualized training for tutors whose students have specific issues.
“We have one student right now who is doing fine, but when it comes to three-syllable words or more, it’s just a stumbling block. He can’t get over that,” says Silva.
“Strengthening and enhancing tutor training will make the students more successful,” says Mann. Silva agrees adding, “Yes, because if a student comes in and thinks their needs aren’t being met, they’ll leave.”
Securing funds is always a top priority as the organization receives no governmental help. It’s one of the reasons Mann joined the board six years ago.
“There was just so much to be done in terms of recruiting board members and raising money,” says Mann. “When I joined the board the budget was about in the $70,000 range. Now it’s three times that.”
“Nobody wants to fund adult literacy; the focus is on kids,” says Silva. “But if the parents can’t read, they can’t help the kids. If the parents can’t read it’s more likely their child will not graduate from high school. We have one student who doesn’t have transportation and lives right around here. She’s very excited; she can’t wait. She has two young children and that’s the reason she came to our program. She wants to read to them and help them to read.”
When Mann invited him to join the board, Walker says, “He spent time talking about the challenges, and the absolute extremes of the county, from very, very wealthy folks to the very high number of sub-standard level literacy. It looked like an organization with very, very vital needs, but that needed expansion in terms of where it was heading. It was an opportunity to help the organization transform itself, with the goal that Mary had in terms of providing better quality and expanded services.”
“His skill set is strategic planning, and that’s an area where we really needed help,” says Silva of Walker. “We have our first Strategic Vision Plan because of him. He put things together for us; from abstract to concrete.”
Mann and Walker are both unanimous in their praise of Silva and her continued, passionate leadership, with Mann commenting that the new Tutor Training director will finally take some of the burden off her, adding, “She’s been doing everything.”
Of particular note is that architect Chris Crawford donated his services, and all of the contractors – Jim McAlhany of McAlhany Construction, Tim Rose Contracting, and flooring contractor Gene Riddell, performed all the renovation work on the building pro bono or at cost. John’s Island Foundation provided a grant for all the renovation capital expenses, which included desks, computers, phones and other equipment.