Community colleges and local school districts address illiteracy to varying degrees in North Carolina, but nonprofit literacy organizations are the consistent warriors against the problem.

Their success, as with most charities, depends upon the amount and the quality of their ammunition, which is often insufficient given the stigma of illiteracy and community ignorance of the problem.

Finding enough volunteers is always difficult, but even greater is persuading people who are illiterate to seek help. They are often overwhelmed by shame and by the prospect of learning basic reading skills as an adult.

“Going through grade-level schoolwork as an adult is not the same as going through grade-level work as a child,” said Monica Angelucci, executive director of the Literacy Council of Wake County.

Sometimes a push from outside is required to motivate uneducated people to overcome their embarrassment.
That is what happened with Constance (name has been changed to protect privacy), who has been tutored by a volunteer from the Literacy Council for about 10 years.

Constance graduated from a Raleigh high school in 1968, despite her lack of skills. Shortly afterward she became employed by a large corporation, working in its cafeteria. She later moved into the company’s manufacturing operations.

In 1993 her supervisors realized she needed help.
“We were on computers and we had to look up things,” Constance said. “That was hard.”

As is often true in illiteracy cases, it took someone who cared about Constance to nudge her to overcome her fears.

“They knew I had a problem and got me in touch with the Literacy Council,” she said.

Constance was scared at first.

“They made you come in and do tests,” she said.
But once the council assessed Constance’s abilities and found her a tutor, her fears gradually disappeared. She learned that the perception of Literacy Council workers wasn’t what she thought it was.

“People didn’t really care [why she couldn’t read],” she said. “They just wanted to help.”

Lynn Troy became a widow in 1988, and one asset her husband left behind was 200,000 frequent flyer miles. Alone, she told herself that she would “not turn down any chances of a lifetime.” She has traveled to many parts of the world since.

A self-employed property manager and seller, Lynn decided to volunteer in the community in some way. She completed the council’s 12-hour workshop for its basic literacy tutors, but decided it was too much of a commitment because she was traveling a lot at the time.

But about a month later the Literacy Council called and asked her to come in and read the profile of a new student. She saw that the student , Constance, lived nearby, and had the same birth date as she did. Lynn took it as a sign.

They have met, usually at Lynn’s house in the late afternoon, for about 10 years.

Finding the right curriculum for the student is usually trial and error. Lynn and Constance thought the first material they used was “kind of babyish” because it used sentences and stories that didn’t apply to adults.

“It’s never an exact science,” said Chris Endicott, program director of Adult Basic Education for the Literacy Council.

He said that even though students are tested before they begin, the council allows them to “feel their way” to material they feel comfortable with. Their only boundaries were to stay at the level where they tested.
“We feel like we have a good series of books,” Endicott said.

Because of Constance’s apprehension, she felt the tutoring sessions were a little awkward at the beginning. But she quickly became comfortable with Lynn.

As time elapsed and the number of times they met increased, Constance’s skills inevitably developed. She dropped an occasional surprise on her tutor.
“One day she came in and said she was writing her own checks now,” Lynn said.

Constance reached other milestones as well: Getting a library card and checking out books; reading on the Internet; and using the phone book and the dictionary. She became fond of Nancy Drew and other mystery books.

About three years ago Constance began writing on a higher level, employing the rules of spelling and suffix use, using proper sentence construction, etc.

“That was a big challenge,” Lynn said, “but she’s self-motivated.” She said Constance has become much more adept at finding answers to problems and questions on her own.

“I think her level of confidence has gone up a lot,” Lynn said.

She said she plans to meet with Constance as long as the client wants to.

“It takes a long time to learn to read,” Lynn said. “It’s a pleasant experience for both of us.”

The Literacy Council was started in the late 1960s by several women from the area who began tutoring in their churches. It gained nonprofit status in 1970 and remained “a very grassroots” organization until the 1990s. It receives some federal funding, but no state or local money.

Today the council has a staff of four and almost 300 volunteers, but it always has more students than it is able to tutor.

Paul Chesser is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.