Katie Gainer

While many of us saw our daily lives as we knew them come to a halt during this pandemic, Charming’s life only got busier. She was working full-time in a nursing home, taking several evening classes with LVGH on Zoom, and waking up each day at 3 AM to study and then do it all again. As if she didn’t have enough on her plate as a student and employee, she decided to add to the list citizen of the United States of America.

Charming moved to the U.S. from Jamaica in 2010, and was here for a few months before deciding to start Basic Literacy classes at LVGH. She says the hardest part about living here with limited literacy skills was the vulnerability. “I couldn’t do an application without having someone help me, so I was always scared to do applications. When you need to rely on others to read for you- signs, paperwork, anything- you can’t ever be sure that they’re telling you the correct thing.”

“I was a bit insecure starting out”, she admits. “I made the effort because I said “this is for me.” I started attending LVGH two times a week. My tutor encouraged me by saying, “no matter what people say about you, just do you. Coming to LVGH helped me to start feeling like I could do things for myself. Talking with Rose and the tutors at school, it gave me more confidence, it gave me more of me.”

When she passed her citizenship test last month, it really solidified for Charming that all of her hard work had been worth it. “I just felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” she said. “Going from working on farms in Jamaica to where I am now in the States- I really never saw myself in this position. I feel so blessed”.

For Anna, who has been a student at LVGH since 2011, the closing of our office due to the COVID-19 pandemic took some getting used to. “It wasn’t easy being at home all day and not being in class”, Anna said of that first month before she started online learning. “I was just reading books a lot. So now I am ahead of everyone in book club.”

On any given day, whether it was attending a class or working in the computer lab, you were more likely to find Anna in the office than not. So now, it makes perfect sense that she is taking advantage of just about every online class she can fit into her newly open schedule. “I’m taking two literacy classes and two book clubs,” she told me, before clarifying: “Well, three literacy classes. The one I took last night is new for me.”

Anna moved up to Connecticut from Maryland nine years ago, following an even bigger move from The Gambia a few years prior. She enrolled at LVGH with a goal to improve her reading and writing, and says as long as she keeps improving, she’ll keep coming in. “LVGH feels like a full-time school to me,” she said. “I have the option to take as many classes as I want. If I miss one, there are two or three more I can go to.”

“I miss you guys”, she told us on Zoom when asked about how she’s handling being away from the office. “I call it more like a family to me because everyone is welcoming to everyone. That’s what I miss most all the time. You love your family, but at the same time, people you’re around so much can become your family members. You count them as your own family. That’s what I miss about LVGH”.

We couldn’t agree more! But while we’re safely staying virtual, Anna’s favorite part about online learning? “Everyone is on time!” She laughed, adding, “Coming back online and seeing everyone was a great thing. But now,” she said, holding up an Agatha Christie novel, “I’m going to go read my book before class.”

When Zack was nearing the end of his time with Job Corps, which he enrolled in right after his high school graduation, he knew that he needed to find a new outlet for his desire to learn. “I wanted a place where I could continue to better myself and my skills. I needed somewhere to go and someone to keep me accountable”, Zack describes. “That’s how I found Literacy Volunteers.”

Ever since he was young, Zack wanted to be an engineer. “Well, first it was an airline pilot, but let’s focus on this for now”, he jokes. He struggled a lot in school, both with math and with reading. “I would ask for help but no one would really take the time to help me. Instead, they would just push me through to the next grade, and then I would struggle more. I tried my best to catch up but as a kid, I could only do so much.”

“I’m interested in engineering because I like math. I struggled with that too as a kid, but I liked it because I was able to finally become good at it”, he explains. “Reading is not exactly connected to my career goals, but it was a confidence thing. I didn’t want to grow up still not learning how to read.”

Zack always knew he wanted better for himself, but he discovered along the way that he had to make the hard decision to cut out a lot of people in his life who were going down the wrong path. “If I had kept hanging out with them until now, I would never complete what I want to do. So I was like, ‘Okay, I need to stop hanging out with them and do what I got to do. Focus on my future, focus on my life.’”

Even after seeing real improvement in his reading skills, and after we assisted Zack in securing a livable wage job, he still makes the time to continue classes at LVGH. “Before I first started, I didn’t know exactly how it was going to go but I decided to just show up. It’s going really well. I feel like I get better every day and can actually succeed in getting a job in engineering in my five-year plan.”

“When I’m done here, I want to go back to school again”, Zack said proudly. “I just don’t want to give up on life.”

At just 17 years old, Gloria moved to the United States from Mexico, knowing only a few words of English, to be with her sister. “At first, it was really hard and very frustrating”, Gloria admits. “Because you try to say something and nobody understands you. They speak to you, but you don’t know what they say”.

In sharing these frustrations with some new friends, one recommended that Gloria check out Literacy Volunteers. “She said she was doing a really good job here. She felt accomplished and proud, and I wanted that”.

Now, Gloria is at LVGH several days a week. “I try to take as many classes as I can- ESOL, the book club- I have free time right now so I’m trying to make the most of it”. When asked why, even now that her English is quite good, Gloria keeps taking classes, she says, “Well, because every time I learn something new! It helps me to pronounce better, to read and write better. You not only learn the second language, you learn about different cultures from different people in class. So that’s why I’m continuing to come. I’m very interested in it”.

Eighteen years later, with the firsthand knowledge of what it’s like to be a nervous newcomer to the U.S., Gloria is enjoying the ability to pay it forward. “Because I was in that situation and I know it is very frustrating, I’m more than happy if I can do something for somebody else. At the store, at the DMV…if I see someone struggling, someone that does not understand, I can ask if they need help. Some people like it, some do not, it depends on the situation. But I don’t mind. Why not help if I can?”

“Without coming to LVGH, the things I want to accomplish in life would be impossible. The path to accomplishing my goals starts here.”

Growing up in the African country of Mali, Ousmane learned at an early age that success comes from hard work. Years later, when he arrived in the U.S., that mentality was no different. Though he was able to pick up basic English in no time, Ousmane realized how reliant he would still be on others as long as his reading and writing skills were limited. One year ago, he came to LVGH to change that.

You will find Ousmane at LVGH five days a week. He is enrolled in the ESOL and Basic Literacy programs, and finishes the week by attending our Friday Book Club. What makes his desire to learn even more remarkable is that he works as a truck driver for a local distributor seven nights a week. “Working at night, there is a lot of days I don’t want to get out of bed and come to class, but I have to come here. If I don’t come, I will miss something. I need these skills.”

Ousmane’s dedication has paid off. “I love that I am starting to be able to read books now. Maybe one day I will write a book. Since coming to LVGH, I realize that I want to help people like the volunteers here do. I want to help people in my situation.” When asked about his future plans, he said: “If I can read and write, the sky is the limit.” For now, Ousmane is planning a much-needed and well-deserved vacation!