Volunteers spread the joy of reading in South City

For some in San Mateo County, tasks as necessary as obtaining a driver’s license, passing a citizenship test, or even writing a letter to a child’s school can be difficult.

Fortunately, a team of 90 dedicated volunteers work to provide a pathway to success for about 120 students with a one-on-one tutoring program through Project Read. The core program is one-on-one tutoring for adults who need help with reading. Based in the South San Francisco Library and established in 1985, Project Read trains volunteer tutors and matches them to students. The pairs meet one or two times a week for about an hour and focus on a specific area that a student would like to improve upon. For example, students have taken advantage of the program specifically to get a driver’s license or gain citizenship. Students gain vital skills that lead to career improvements.

"They’re facing a job market that’s more and more competitive every time. Because we’re working with adults, it’s not like going to a class. [The tutoring program] is very goal-oriented. … It’s seamless in its approach,” said Project Read Program Manager Holly Fulghum-Nutters, 59.

"When people have problems with reading or writing, they also have problems with self esteem, which makes them feel like they can’t do very much. ... They tend to stay at the bottom levels of the economic ladder,” said Fulghum-Nutters.

Aside from their tutoring program, Project Read offers several programs that serve those in the South San Francisco, Daly City, San Bruno and Colma areas. The Families for Literacy program is designed to help parents read more effectively to their children. The Health Literacy Program focuses on obesity prevention and provides an opportunity for families to prepare healthy foods together. Learning Wheels consists of volunteers that drive to community centers, childcare centers, and other places where Project Read can "spread the joy of reading,” said Fulghum-Nutters. Learning wheels also distributes free books to families.

"One of our core beliefs is that parents and children need to have books in the house, because it’s so easy to turn on the TV. We’ll need to make it equally easy to reach for a book,” said Fulghum-Nutters.

Project Read also offers help with computer skills. In addition to learning basic computer literacy, one student used the computer lab to make fliers and business cards for her emerging cleaning service.

Four years ago, Project Read started working with AmeriCorps, a group that places volunteers in programs around the world. Two AmeriCorps volunteers, Patty Rosado, 50, and Mary O’Nyon, 51, are approaching the end of their two-year stints with Project Read.

Rosado has been focusing on Read for the Record, a day where Project Read will try to break the world record for the largest number of children read to from one book in one day. This year, the event will be held on Oct. 2 at the War Memorial Building in Daly City. The volunteers aim for an audience of 200 kids.

O’Nyon has been preparing for another upcoming event, Project Read’s annual Trivia Challenge. The Trivia Challenge and silent auction will take place on Nov. 7 at the South San Francisco Conference Center.

Aside from organizing Project Read events, the two women tutor, work with the Project Read women’s group, perform clerical duties at the office and more.

"There’s all kinds of rewarding moments,” said Rosado. "For me, it’s when I pull up to the site with the Learning Wheels and they all go, ‘Oh, the lady that reads to us is here!’”

One success story comes from a student whom Rosado tutored several years ago. Today, she is in the process of earning a degree in cosmetology. "She told me, if it weren’t for [my help] she probably wouldn’t even have thought about continuing school and going through high school. … It just shows how if you show somebody that you care and you … point out the different options that they have, they’ll make it,” said Rosado.

Perhaps one of the greatest successes belongs to Rosado, who was a student at Project Read for 13 years. "I had an excellent tutor,” said Rosado. "She made me feel comfortable. … I learned more form her in the first year than I learned all though school.”

O’Nyon and Rosado are sad to leave Project Read, but will never forget the experiences shared with students and other volunteers. "I’ve never met a group quite like it, ever. They care about each other, they care about the people they serve, they care about the community,” said O’Nyon.

The volunteers urge others to reach out to the community and volunteer. "It was the best thing I ever did,” said O’Nyon. "It’s like family. It’s not work, really. I look forward to coming here every day.”

"If you can help out someone and that person and their family can benefit from it, then you’re benefiting the entire community because you have people that are getting better jobs because they are able to use this service,” said Rosado.

"One person can make an impact on more than one person in the community. It can affect a whole family, it can affect just one person, buone person that walks though the door and says, ‘I’d like to volunteer’ could be the key to somebody’s future,” said O’Nyon.

For more information about Project Read visit www.ssflibrary.net/paths/projectread/volunteer.