Volunteer Tutors Urgently Needed to Combat Illiteracy

Seeds of Literacy

Did you know that 66% of Clevelanders are functionally illiterate? This means they may struggle with things like understanding prescription instructions, navigating bus schedules, making budgetary decisions, and running a household. Adults without a high school diploma are twice as likely to live in poverty and the unemployment rate is twice that of adults with a diploma. Furthermore, a child’s future academic success is directly correlated to the reading level of his or her mother – more than any other factor including socio-economic status or neighborhood. Low literacy isn’t just an individual problem. It impacts entire families and communities.

Fortunately, there IS a solution: Seeds of Literacy is an award-winning adult literacy program that provides FREE, 1-to-1 tutoring in basic education and GED test prep to adults. The commitment is only 1 weekly tutoring session (2 hours), you choose the day and time. Just 1% of your week profoundly changes lives.

After 22 years of volunteering at Seeds, tutor Jane keeps coming back because “I want to see them succeed. I see all they have overcome to be here.”

You don’t have to be an educator to be a tutor, nor are you responsible for lesson plans. Seeds provides all volunteers with a thorough tutor training, ongoing professional development, and all study materials customized for each student. Ongoing staff support is also available in the classroom.

Classrooms are located on both the west and east sides of Cleveland, and a virtual classroom is available for tutors outside of the Cleveland area. In-person tutors are also welcome to log on to the virtual classroom from our on-site computer labs. While the need for volunteers is always great, the virtual classroom, using Zoom, has a dire need for more tutors in the evening.

“I like to have a place to give back a little bit,” said tutor Ann, “a place to feel good about the things I’ve done that day.”

Click here  to volunteer to read more about becoming a tutor and to view a list of training dates.

http://www.seedsofliteracy.org/volunteer