Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle
Organization Details
Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/ Albemarle (LVCA) is a nonprofit organization that promotes adult literacy through equitable, inclusive, free, confidential, one-to-one English and Citizenship tutoring.
OUR GOALS
- To enable adults in need of basic literacy and/or English skills to achieve their potential through literacy instruction
- To train, supervise, and support tutors who provide instruction to learners
- To work collaboratively with other community service agencies in providing our services
- To evaluate our program and make improvements in order to strengthen our capacity to provide quality services to the community
Impact Story
Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle (LVCA) is the only local provider of free, basic literacy and English language tutoring in our community. We served 370 students in FY23, with 95% of them being English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students. Our primary method of instruction is one-to-one lessons, and we have approximately 250 volunteer tutors who commit to a minimum of eight hours per month for one full year. Last fiscal year, volunteers logged 18,067 hours at LVCA, equivalent to an economic value of over $588,803.
During our students’ time with LVCA, many of them entered the job market for the first time, and many students secured better jobs. Parents increased their involvement in their children’s literacy or educational activities, breaking the cycle of illiteracy in families.
LVCA has been the lead organization for coordinating citizenship classes, tutoring, and the naturalization process for legal permanent residents in our area who are seeking citizenship since the fall of 2014. Under the direction of Citizenship Coordinator Catherine McCall, LVCA's citizenship program continues to thrive through a combination of online group instruction, one-to-one tutoring, and the perseverance of our students. In FY23, 60 of our students passed their citizenship interview and became naturalized citizens.
We also serve a small number of individuals who are not in the workforce by choice and do not fit into any “category.” These may be retired individuals who now find time in their lives to learn to read, mothers who want to learn to read to their children in English, or any number of other situations. We believe the ability to read, write, and communicate is critical for adults to fully realize their potential as individuals, parents, and citizens.