Two women stood in front of a large crowd last summer and said something they had only ever told a few people: “I don’t know how to read.”
For Bethany Turrentine, Volunteers in Tutoring Adult Learners coordinator, these women were brave and their message powerful.
Turrentine said these two speakers were representative of a larger population of Bloomington adults seeking to achieve literacy goals in reading, writing, math and English as a new language.
“There are so many adults here in Bloomington who haven’t had the same opportunities to learn that we have,” Turrentine said. “VITAL wants to help them overcome any obstacles and reach the literacy goals they set for themselves.”
VITAL offered its first orientation and training session of the year Wednesday for new volunteers. Potential volunteers have the option of helping with one-on-one tutoring or ENL groups focusing on topics ranging from history and grammar to crafting.
The orientation included an overview of the program and its history, a description of what is expected of volunteers, and a discussion of resources offered by VITAL. After orientation, new volunteers will be matched with learners in their areas of interest.
Turrentine said the efforts of these volunteers lead to direct benefits for those they help. Education can lead to new job opportunities, the ability to read to children, handling finances and earning a driver’s license. The greatest benefit, however, is something less tangible, she said.
“I feel like so many people who come to VITAL don’t have the opportunity to speak for themselves.,” Turrentine said. “They aren’t the ones speaking up at meetings or writing letters to the newspaper or voting ... We really want to try to give them the tools to use and be confident in their voice.”
VITAL information assistant Audra Loudenbarger said many obstacles may stand in the way of this end result, especially with adult learners.
“Adult learners have a heavy burden of everyday responsibilities,” she said. “Jobs, children, finances — it all adds up to a lot and can keep people from being able to come in and learn.”
However, Loudenbarger said this does not stop adult learners in VITAL from improving their qualities of life. She said this is especially true among ENL learners who may face difficulties in adjusting to life in the United States after arriving from one of the 35 different countries represented in VITAL.
“For a lot of people who have just come to Bloomington from a different county, it’s really scary if you can’t communicate a simple request,” she said. “Something as simple as a bus schedule can become scary, so they really need to be given opportunities to gain confidence in their language skills.”
Turrentine said she also hopes to help ENL learners feel at ease in the U.S. and better understand a new culture.
“I hope we can help people understand this completely new environment and find a place in this community,” Turrentine said. Engaging in this new culture is hard mentally and emotionally, so we want to make sure we are teaching but also offering support.”
Turrentine said respect is the most important thing at VITAL. As a result, she said she hopes people realize Bloomington is a diverse community with adults who have diverse abilities.
“When someone can’t read, they only see that part of them, yet there is so much more,” she said. “This person has many, many other skills that you’d be impressed by. I think we really need to understand that people are so much more than what we see at the surface.”
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