In the fall of 1995, Evelyn Owen, a member of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Monroe, encouraged her fellow church women to provide literacy tutoring for Union County’s illiterate and low literate adult population. Several St. Luke’s members had prior experience with the Laubach method for teaching adults to read, and Union Literacy Volunteers was formed.

A $500 grant through the Lutheran Church Women provided materials to get tutoring underway. Bev Voelzow led tutor training sessions, and the group branched out to include English as a Second Language instruction. By October 1997, the demand for services had surpassed the capabilities of volunteers including Linda Moyer. 

About the same time, Nancy Noles, then the Monroe Enquirer Journal’s Newspapers in Education Coordinator, was looking for ways to promote adult literacy and Win Baker was on assignment from Union West Rotary Club to learn about adult literacy needs in Union County. Baker, Noles, and Moyer planned a series of Literacy Summits, inviting participants from the public and private sector. A unified effort to address the issue countywide was begun, and the Literacy Council of Union County was formed.

The Board of Directors met for the first time on March 31, 1998, with Win Baker elected chairperson. A grant from the Foundation for the Carolinas allowed us to hire an executive director, and in November, 1998 Linda Moyer accepted that position. As the Council grew, so did our staffing needs with new positions formed over the years. Volunteer trainer Kelly Norton began leading our training program in 2001.

The Council had a home at the local community college until May, 2007 when we established a stand-alone adult literacy center in historic downtown Monroe. We became a United Way of Central Carolinas member agency in July 2001. Other financial support has come from many sources including federal Workforce Investment Act grant funds, the Foundation for the Carolinas, UPS, Dollar General, Wal-Mart, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Sisters of Mercy Foundation, and many others. IBM has outfitted our computer lab, which has grown over time. 

Additionally, valuable partnerships have been formed with the Union County Public Libraries, churches, and businesses that allow our tutors and students to meet at various locations throughout the county. In 2007 a new partnership was formed with the Union County Public Schools, enabling us to bring convenient adult literacy services to parents of children, particularly those at Title I schools, in an effort to break the cycle of illiteracy within families. 

Our core method of instruction is one-on-one tutoring, which provides adult learners with the focused attention necessary to learn to read. In 2003 we added Small Group Instruction for immigrant adults to gain the English communication skills they need in the short-run while simultaneously addressing their long-term reading goals. 

In 2005 we were asked to train literate inmates to tutor fellow inmates with low literacy skills at Brown Creek Correctional Institute in Anson County. We hope that the ability to read and write will help these men forge a new life when they leave the penal institution and make a remarkable difference in their lives.

In January 2007 we successfully completed the 16 standards to become an accredited affiliate of ProLiteracy America. National accreditation is the culmination of years of sound practices and dedicated service on the part of many. 

In 2008, through separate grant funds, we launched a Compute to Literacy project to give our students better access to technology as well as a Health Literacy initiative to provide students an opportunity to increase their reading and English literacy skills while also gaining important information on health and well-being. We continue to address the needs of our adult learners.

Linda Moyer retired in February 2011, and Kelly Norton, with her accumulated knowledge of the Literacy Council and adult literacy issues in general, was chosen to succeed her. With an expanding network of trained volunteers, we anticipate providing many more adults the opportunity to learn to read, write, speak and understand English.

Rev. 12-20-10

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