Barb

If you’ve spent some time around the LVGH office, you’ve probably met Barb. Barb has been a Basic Literacy student with us for over twenty years. As a teenager, she felt left behind at school. “They pushed me ahead even though I wasn’t learning,” Barb describes. “So, in ninth grade, I just got up one day and left. No one was paying attention to me anyway. They didn’t even call my mom to tell her."

This meant she struggled in her adulthood, relying on family members to assist her with everyday tasks. She tried to learn to read on her own, and once in a one-on-one program, but she didn’t stay long. Eventually, a friend she made at church told her about LVGH, and she gave us a call.

“When I first came here, I felt very comfortable. They didn’t care what level I was starting out at, and that felt like a miracle. All they care about is that you want to be here. I sat in the waiting area, and I could overhear the teachers and students talking in the classroom. I thought, this is the place for me.”

Barb enrolled in every class she could- she quickly improved her reading and writing, as well as her math. She got better with money, learned to count out bills on her own, and felt much more independent. She gained confidence, too, no longer feeling ashamed to ask for clarity when she didn’t understand a concept or know a certain word. Her friends and family noticed.

“Back when I babysat my nieces and they would ask me to read to them, I couldn’t do it. We’d have to help each other. By the time my granddaughter was born, I was able to read to her. And now that she’s grown, we write letters back and forth. When she got the first letter I wrote her, she was so proud.”