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Reading Connections

Give. Advocate. Volunteer.

United Way's support of Reading Connections Adult Literacy Program enabled 100% of students in the program who specified employment a personal literacy goal- to meet that goal. Marcy states, "United Way is a lifeline for Reading Connections. We count on this funding to meet literacy needs in our community. We would not exist without the support of United Way."

For more information about other United Way of Greater Greensboro supported programs or how you can contribute to United Way of Greater Greensboro, go to www.unitedwaygso.org. For more information about how you can volunteer at Reading Connections please go to www.readingconnections.org.

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Advancing the Common Good through Transformed Lives

United Way of Greater Greensboro and Reading Connections

When you make a gift to United Way of Greater Greensboro, you reach out a hand to one and influence the condition of all. In Guilford County, 21% of adults or 70,000 of the total population, are unable to perform basic functions such as filling out a job application, following directions on a prescription for medication, reading a bill and more. An additional 25% read at an insufficient level for today's fast-paced and technology driven society. Drill down further and you get the most startling adult literacy statistic; one out of every five adult in Guilford County reads at no higher than a third grade level.

Reading Connections, a United Way of Greater Greensboro partner agency, is designed to meet the increasing and crucial need for adult literacy by offering programs in adult basic education, computer literacy, workplace literacy, health literacy, GED preparation, English for Speakers of Other Languages and family literacy.

Success stories like Butch Helms make it all worthwhile, says Reading Connections Development and Communications Director, Marcy Ray. Like many adults with low literacy, Butch's intelligence was one of several coping mechanisms that allowed him to hide a low level of literacy. When Butch lost his job in 2006 he realized that he could no longer hide his lack of literacy in a competitive workforce. "Pride had kept me from admitting I couldn't read well, but I knew I finally had to do something about it," explains Butch.

Today Butch is a changed man who enjoys writing stories about his childhood and volunteering to read at his grandson's elementary school. Butch is a popular speaker at fundraisers and special events where his enthusiasm for reading and how it has changed his life inspires all who listen.

Thanks to United Way of Greater Greensboro funded literacy programs and others at Reading Connections, Butch has increased his reading literacy from a sixth grade level to an intermediate (ninth to tenth grade) level, and he continues to work with a tutor. Reading a biography of J.Edgar Hoover is a major accomplishment and Butch is reading other books that once would have been impossible. "Before I could only scan the newspaper, but now I can read it cover- to-cover," smiles Butch. "Reading Connections taught me not only how to read better, but more importantly how to believe in myself."

The organization reports other client milestones that are equally awe inspiring such as applying for citizenship, buying a first home, receiving a GED certificate, enrolling in college or in one case, going from a dead-end job as a janitor to a career path as a nurse.

Marcy notes that the results of a changed life are rewarding but much work remains to be done. For one, the organization has a waiting list of 50 to100 clients who often wait months before they are assigned a tutor. "A cultural shift needs to take place," explains Marcy. "A higher skilled job market and our low literacy rate which is slightly worse than the national average makes literacy a priority for our community. Low literacy is also intimately tied to poverty, crime, unemployment and drug use and an overall lesser quality of life." Ultimately, everyone has the right to read.