Literacy for Life is an organization that opens doors.
For some residents, its language classes provide the skills to write their first email. Others benefit from its one-on-one tutoring or life sufficiency lessons to get a driver’s license.
About 80 percent of the nonprofit’s clients turn to it for support in learning English as a second language.
What excites executive director Joan Peterson are the learners who start with those goals but who go on to achieve a GED, conquer community college and embark on a journey of lifelong learning.
To help more people meet educational milestones at every level, Literacy for Life has announced a new partnership with Thomas Nelson Community College. In addition to its home at the College of William & Mary’s School of Education, Literacy for Life opened a satellite location at TNCC’s Historic Triangle campus at the beginning of October.
Peterson said the collaboration is ideal in that Literacy for Life can help its learners prepare up through the high school level, pass the GED test – which the organization started administering this summer – and guide them onto the next step.
Those hoping to enroll at TNCC but who do not pass the qualifying entrance exam will be referred to Literacy for Life for tutoring to prepare them for community college coursework.
“We are all about educating people and helping them go as far as they can, and helping them improve their self-sufficiency,” Peterson said.
Of the about 700 learners who seek assistance at Literacy for Life each year, Peterson estimated 20 percent are in basic adult education, most of them working toward high school equivalency.
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The TNCC location of Literacy for Life is to the left of the main reception area at the Historic Triangle campus. It is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
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“So we can take them through the full gamut and then guide them over to the community college and continue their education,” she said.
John Dever, TNCC’s president, said in a news release he hopes the school will function as a community resource, with an overlapping base of clients coming to learn.
“The academic classes that we offer are at the heart of what we do, but we want our campus to be more. That’s our role as a community college,” Dever said.
Peterson expects a dramatic increase in demand for Literacy for Life services as a result of the partnership, which also alleviates the load at the William & Mary location that she said is “bursting at the seams.”
The location of TNCC, just off the intersection with Richmond Road and Route 199, is on the Purple and Blue Lines for the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority’s bus system, making it accessible to learners who rely on public transportation.
Peterson said the site is more convenient to those living in Toano, Norge or the other northern and western parts of the Historic Triangle than the City of Williamsburg hub, and that many of Literacy for Life’s 350 volunteer tutors come from that area.
“That’s cutting off a considerable amount of distance for them to tutor, as well as for the learners,” she said.
With the TNCC community at its fingertips, Literacy for Life plans to draw more tutors from its students.
Peterson hopes the students who receive training through the organization will allow Literacy for Life to reach more clients throughout the area. Even with hundreds of tutors, there is still a waitlist of learners.
“It is the greatest limiting factor, the number of tutors we can bring in here to train to help others,” Peterson said. “So anytime we can improve or increase the number of people who are trained tutors, the better for the community, because we’re going to be able to help that many more people.”
Those interested in Literacy for Life’s services can complete an intake assessment at the TNCC location so the organization can determine how best to meet their needs at either site.
For more information about Literacy for Life, visit its website.
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