RadioRotary interviews Marisol Rodriguez, Executive Director of Literacy Connections of the Hudson Valley, a nonprofit using local volunteers to help people to read, write, and reach their potential. One in five Americans are functionally illiterate, which means that their reading and writing skills are at a sixth-grade level or lower. Literacy Connections trained volunteers work one-on-one with the functionally illiterate to teach them the specific skills they need for a given goal, such as passing a driver’s test. They also can teach English as a Second Language (ESL). Before a learner enters the program—which is free—they are evaluated by certified testers to determine the specific source of their difficulties. In a separate program called “Book Buddies,” volunteers read to children in schools. Volunteers for either program can be anyone who is able to read and write comfortably.
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