Literacy Nassau

• Location : Nassau County, USA
• Community Served: Adults
• Focus: Education and Social Assistance

Organization background

Literacy Nassau Inc (LN), formed in 1968, is a US based charitable organization addressing the issue of adult illiteracy in Nassau County. To date, it has provided over 30,000 adults free literacy instruction.

The adults they serve have the lowest levels of literacy, equivalent to 6th grade or below and are both native and non-native English speakers. Only about one in ten adults fall in this category. Though there are alternative programs that conduct curriculum-based group class sessions, the weakest students in these classes often fail to benefit from them as they are unable to keep up with the rest of the class.

LN tries to fill in this gap by providing these students with individualized tutoring sessions that cater to each student's unique needs and circumstances. They recruit, train and support volunteer tutors who teach literacy skills by working with students one-on-one or in small groups, as this seems to be the most effective way to help them progress.

The tutors help these adults reach their goals (either once-in-a-lifetime goals such as reading to their children, or daily goals such as writing a cheque) and become more productive members of society.

Project background

GKF has a long standing history of funding projects run by LN.

• Tutor Training Workshops -- these workshops train volunteers to become effective teachers. One third of the workshop is dedicated to how adults learn so they can incorporate this information into the lesson plans. One third of the workshop is devoted to learning cultural sensitivity and the last third is spent teaching tutors different techniques and strategies they can utilize to teach students.
• Internship program -- where the top graduating students are offered internships at LN in order to prepare them for work in the real world. GKF paid the internship stipends.
• Externship program -- where graduates of LN's internship program were paid by LN, for 4 months, to work at offsite jobs locations that would further their careers. GKF paid the externship stipends.
• GKF also funded a portion of LN's move to a new office. The additional space enabled LN to expand their programming to serve dyslexic children.
• GKF has also funded LN's initiative to provide N-400 application assistance to permanent residents wishing to make the United States their new home.

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, the bulk of LN's work was conducted in public libraries. However, due to COVID restrictions, LN had to pivot to an alternative method to provide in-person coaching (since virtual learning is not optimal for dyslexic children). LN set up four outdoor pods outside their offices, where they can conduct socially-distanced classes while protecting students & teachers from inclement weather. Because of the shift to online learning, they also upgraded their computing environment, and moved their immigration assistance services online.

GKF contributions to LN

• 2012,2013,2014,2015: Fund Teacher Training workshops
• 2016-2017: Fund internship program
• 2018: Fund externship program and LN's move to new offices
• 2019: Fund externship program and assistance for N-400 naturalization applications
• 2020: Fund
  • building of outdoor pods in order to host socially distanced tutoring and/or small group sessions for cognitively impaired students
  • upgraded technology to host large numbers of Zoom lessons
  • naturalization assistance for the immigrant population
• 2021: Fund
  • upgrade outdoor pods and build new outdoor pavilion
  • pilot weekend ESL classes for children
• 2022,2023: Fund weekend ESL classes for immigrant children