It's hard to say what we love most about our Literacy Source community, but your kindness certainly might just top the chart. As Aesop says, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” We are continually amazed by the many acts of kindness we witness amidst our staff, volunteers, and students. It just so happens that February 17th is National Random Acts of Kindness day, so while we're fairly confident you'll have no shortage of ways to continue sharing your kindness with the world, here are some great suggestions of way to pay it forward and make people's day a little brighter.
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Dear Literacy Source Community,
February marks Black History Month, and this year's theme is Black Health and Wellness, a timely theme given the disproportionate impact Covid-19 has had on the Black community. Through our joint commitment to lifelong learning, we welcome opportunities to learn from different perspectives, so we thought to share some of the troubling history behind this topic, as well as reasons for hope.
A few examples of the history of Black Health and Wellness in America:
However, although the struggle for racial justice in health care is ongoing, there have been improvements in access, education, and inclusion in recent years. The Affordable Care Act, for example, helped to reduce disparities in health care access, and the inequality in outcomes for Black Americans is improving in many ways.
At Literacy Source, health and wellness is an important part of our curriculum. In an effort to create equal access, we regularly incorporate lessons that help students to better understand and communicate their health needs into our curriculum. Last spring, our 4/5 ESOL class focused on physical and mental health with a focus on cross-cultural differences in health and wellness in an effort to foster an inclusive and multicultural space for sharing and learning.
Sometimes it's hard to fully grasp the impact of centuries of unequal treatment on every aspect of life for the Black community in the United States. We are thankful that you are on this journey of lifelong learning with us we look forward to continuing to grow the community we’re building together.
In community,
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Cat Howell
Co-ED, Educational Director
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Shira Rosen
Co-ED, Managing Director
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Citizenship Program & New Staff Spotlight |
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Our Citizenship Program is such an important part of the work we do at Literacy Source. We offer classes, tutor coordination, and case management support as part of our comprehensive program, and and we are excited to announce that we were 2022 recipients of the Resilience Fund Grant.
Why is this important? We've had a wonderful team of Americorps over the years who have led our citizenship classes, but with their limited capacity and only a year-long commitment each time, we know that having a permanent staff member would offer our students more consistency.
So we are delighted to introduce our new staff member, Kaeyoung Park, as she shares with us a little about herself and why she is excited to join the Literacy Source community in this important new role of Citizenship Instructional Advisor.
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Why are you excited to work for Literacy Source?
I am so pleased to work with multicultural and multilingual students who want to study Citizenship, and I am very excited to start a new chapter of my life at Literacy Source.
Tell us a little about your background and why this role is a good fit for you.
I was an English teacher in South Korea for three years. For many years, I as a student attended various ESOL classes in the adult education program in Indiana, Kentucky, Florida, and Wisconsin, and I volunteered at many places including public schools and libraries before obtaining a working permit. Also, I got a master degree in TESOL in Kentucky.
What drew you to working with people who are pursuing citizenship?
Before coming to LS, I was an Adult Literacy Program Specialist at Fox Valley Literacy in Wisconsin. It was a great opportunity to be with international students by sharing my knowledge, teaching skills, and learning experience. I know how hard it is to learn English and a new culture. Moreover, this weakness makes me keep studying English and volunteer to help other people. It will also be a great chance for me to learn many new things as a life-long learner.
I have long dreamed of getting a job to serve international students. I believe the Citizenship instructional advisor position will be a valuable chance for me to be connected people in this community and learn coordination of the Citizenship learning and Adult Education programs. I am so happy to be part of the Literacy Source Team.
We are so excited to have you as part of the team, Kaeyoung, and look forward to everything you bring to the role!
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Northwest African American Museum Story Time |
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Literacy Source's 20th Annual Fundraising Breakfast |
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Hunger Intervention Program: Now Hiring |
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One of our Lake City non-profit partners, Hunger Intervention Project, is hiring for two positions: part-time dishwasher position for our Senior Community Meals Program and a full-time Meal Program Coordinator position for the Oaks Shelter Meal Program.
You can read more and apply here. They are prioritizing local hires and would love to have someone from the community.
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We have made a change to our BLM statement. We changed the words people of color to black to better express what we wanted to convey in this statement. We believe the BLM statement is specifically in response to hate against the Black community, so we wanted to be intentional about naming the discrimination against Black people and not just make a blanket statement about all minoritized groups. |
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Literacy Source is on the traditional lands of the Duwamish people, and we pay our respect to elders both past and present. To support the revival of Duwamish culture and the vitality of the Duwamish Tribe, please consider signing this petition to federally recognize them, or consider making a donation to Real Rent Duwamish.
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