“I started in 2007 as a volunteer. I was teaching seventh and eighth grade English when we moved here for my husband's job. I didn’t have a job at the time, so I called the Literacy Center and asked if they were hiring. They weren’t, but had volunteer work and I needed something to do, so I worked in the office for a little bit and then started as a tutor at the GST Michigan Works office that we have in Lapeer. Over time I worked in a bunch of different areas, and eventually became the Assistant Executive Director.
This place is important to me because we help people achieve their goals. I always say I love my job because I get to see and help people do the things that they never thought they could or they were told they couldn't do, like getting a GED. It’s a life-changing event for them and their family.
The Family Literacy Center provides free one-to-one and small group tutoring for people who want to improve their basic skills. Most of our students want to earn their GED, and last year, we had 53 of our students earn their GED.
We talk to people all the time who want to do this but are ashamed or embarrassed. If they want to earn their GED, I'm going to tell them exactly how it's going to work when they come in the door, so they don't have to be nervous of what's going to happen.
You're going to come in and we'll get your basic information. Then we're going to give you a test, but there's no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ on the test. We want you to do your best on it, but it’s just to know where you’re at and how we should begin. After that, we're going to match you with a tutor based upon your goals and they're going to work with you on a one-to-one basis. You're going to meet with them one or two times a week for about an hour.
We always get the question, ‘How much is this going to cost?’ It's not going to cost you anything. We hold fundraisers, we write grants and we're scrambling for every dollar to keep the doors open, but it's not going to cost you anything.
I even talk to them about some of the special things that we do. We have some donors that gave us a little bit of money, so that we can do incentives for students. We'll also do other types of assistance, like provide bus passes or flexible schedules. We're going to do everything we can to get you to the finish line as quickly as possible.
For a lot of people, they have nowhere else to go for help. They want to do different things with their lives, but they need a partnership and positive relationships to make that happen. A lot of our students don't have positive relationships with their family or friends. They don't have support structures in their life. That's one thing that our staff and our volunteers are really good at, is developing good, positive relationships with people to help them achieve what they can.
At our graduation this year, a couple of our students said things like, ‘I started too late, but I’m glad I did it.’ But there isn’t a time limit on this. It’s never too late–you did it, and now we can move on to the rest of your life.”
– Mary Shelton and Meredith Donahue, The Family Literacy Center
Written by Phil Eich, Storyville
This project was created in collaboration with the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) & Michigan Main Street for The Family Literacy Center