South Bay Literacy Council, by Mary Hirsch

Mary Hirsch serves as a volunteer tutor and is Chair of the Fund-Raising Committee for the South Bay Literacy Council.  She graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and has a Masters in Public Administration from CSU Hayward.  She has taught K-12 classes and worked as a counselor as well as in human resources, YMCA, and the Recreation and Parks Dept of Rancho Palos Verdes.

She began tutoring when a young Vietnamese woman asked her if she could help teach her mother to read English.  Mary has found great fulfillment in seeing how empowering the ability to read is for illiterate adults.  She remembers one young man who was doing fairly well in high school, but admitted in class that he was unable to read; he had gotten along by listening carefully in class, dictating what he remembered at home to someone typing out his notes and reading them back to him, and his assignments were always neatly typewritten.

Half of the adults in California are functionally illiterate, unable to read and write at a level required for competent function in modern life.  They can’t read ads, manuals, signs, labels, instructions, maps, letters, receipts or menus, or write checks.  They cannot fill out employment applications or perform work above menial labor.  70% of prisoners are functionally illiterate, and 75% of unemployed adults have literacy difficulties.  Illiteracy results in low productivity, work absenteeism, workplace accidents and poor product quality.  Many have dropped out of school because of poor performance and frustration, and some have trouble speaking and reading English because they came from another country speaking a different language; some of them never learned to read and write effectively in their own language.

The South Bay Literacy Council started in 1981 and has students and volunteer tutors in 16 South Bay cities.  The Literacy Council is looking for volunteers for tutoring in its office (24564 Hawthorne Blvd at Newton Street in Torrance) or in private study rooms at a public library near the volunteer’s or student’s home.  Volunteers receive 18 hours of free training and commit to tutoring at least 4 hours a week for one year.  Volunteers need to be able to speak, read and write English well, be sensitive to the needs of adult learners, and respect confidentiality.  A teaching background is not required.

Incoming students are evaluated and then placed with a suitable tutor.  There are 50 students on the waiting list for English as a 2nd Language, who cannot be placed yet because there are not enough tutors.  The Literacy Council produces an Annual Report on the distribution of locations and origins of its students and volunteers, funds raised and budget expenditures.  Students are referred by word-of-mouth and, interestingly, from libraries.  More volunteers are needed, and donations are always welcome.  Please see the website at www.southbayliteracy.org or call the Literacy Council at (310) 373-7003.