A Letter from Vicki Newell, Executive Director
Dear Friends,
We had a great year at Chatham Literacy. We continued to grow our organization and enhanced our offerings for our students. We forged new partnerships in the community with a variety of businesses and organizations. We also expanded our programs and our geographical reach into rural parts of our county that are traditionally underserved.
Let’s take a quick look at a few of the accomplishments.
Developing New Directions
We continued to grow our programs in terms of the number of students we serve and the number of volunteer tutors who comprise our faculty.
- We served 214 adult learners this past year, an increase of 42%.
- We recorded 5,491 total instructional hours, an increase of 36%.
- And we were grateful to have 76 tutors who worked with students this year, an increase of 41%.
We also enhanced our program offerings. We began offering a Financial Literacy program that addresses money management, budgeting, spending while saving, establishing an emergency fund and understanding your credit score. We are also piloting a Spanish Literacy class that helps people improve their native language skills, preparing them to do well in their personal lives or in our other programs where basic language skills is so critical.
Forging New Partnerships
We saw a significant rise in the number of businesses willing to partner with us by encouraging their employees to take our classes onsite, during work hours. The result for the business partner is more capable employees who can communicate better and be more engaged. We are also finding that our business partners care about the quality of life of their employees and want to help the community as a whole.
We of course continue to partner with other nonprofits and local government agencies that help us identify potential learners and often let us tutor in their facilities.
Gratitude
I want to thank our staff for their dedication and many contributions this year. I am so proud of their work and their caring attitude.
I also thank our tutors and other volunteers who give so much of themselves to help our learners.
And I want to thank all of our donors for your continued generosity.Everything we do is made possible with your financial support.
Whether you are a staff member, a volunteer, a tutor or a donor who has generously given to us, we thank you! Every accomplishment you read in this report is a direct result of the role you play in our family!
Respectfully,
Vicki Newell, Executive Director