IF 68 YEAR-old Rodney were able to talk to that intensely shy boy he was back in grade school, he would tell him to reach out in class and participate. “If you got a class of 30 students, I would be the one in the back trying not to draw attention to himself,” he says. As he progressed through the upper grades and into high school, “I just kind of faded away.”
For the next 50 years of his life, Rodney, an Indianapolis resident who asked that his last name not be used, struggled with reading, including the 33 years he spent doing housekeeping and facilities maintenance work for a local hospital. “We had in-services [training] that we had to do every month, and I would dread getting on the computer. I got by, but it was a real challenge because I was always anxious. Like, you know, ‘you gotta get on the computer today.’ It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to try to improve my reading.” Now retired, Rodney took action in early September by enrolling in the free adult literacy program at Indy Reads, a nonprofit literacy education organization that also offers comprehensive literacy programming, including English language classes, workforce programs, help with high-school equivalency diplomas, and a community bookstore out of its offices in Fountain Square and other locations throughout Marion County.
Rodney says he’s already seeing results. “What has helped me is showing up, number one, and number two is being in a small setting with adults and a few young people [facing the same challenges]. They encourage you. I’ve always had that fear of reading out loud in public, being embarrassed and not knowing the words. And when I do it in the class, when I get to a word I don’t know, they help me get through it. They break it down. That really helps out.”
Each year, hundreds of literacy-challenged adults like Rodney find help at Indy Reads, which relies on both paid staff and an army of classroom volunteers. There are thousands more in the area who could benefit from the program. An estimated one in six adults in Marion County reads below the fifth-grade level. Years ago, the late Dolly Parton recognized the need for helping both children and adults who struggle with reading. Her Imagination Library has provided more than 200 million books to children across the country over the last three decades. Growing up in rural Tennessee as her father had, Dolly saw firsthand how literacy can make or break a person’s opportunities in life. Her father, who lived miles away from the nearest school and was expected to help on the family farm, never learned to read or write. As Dolly wrote on her website, “He was the smartest man I have ever known, but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams.”
Indy Reads is one of the few programs in Indiana addressing the needs of learners like Rodney—adults who are not quite ready to work on their high school equivalency but who want to improve their reading ability as well as other survival skills that are an increasingly vital part of being literate, says Indy Reads CEO Ruba Marshood. “We’re talking about reading for comprehension, reading for critical analysis, numeracy, financial literacy, history, social studies, and science,” she says. “And that’s still not quite enough to be a thriving, fully literate adult in the United States.”
This year, Indy Reads has also added civics lessons and healthcare navigation to its adult literacy classes, Marshood says. Classes have included presentations on voting rights, civic responsibility, and the how-tos of voting in Marion County. Learners also meet in small groups of two or three for personalized instruction. At a recent session, two adult learners listened to their favorite songs while a teacher and a volunteer helped them sound out the lyrics on sheets of paper. Joe, an 80-year-old, chose Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E” for the day’s lesson while a classmate named Sunday, in his early 50s, chose The Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way.” But as Indy Reads looks at expanding their adult literacy programming, they’re also faced with declining government funding. Five years ago, public funding accounted for 56 percent of Indy Reads’ then-$1.4 million budget, Marshood says. Today, with state and federal cutbacks and new policy guidelines that ban funding for non-citizens, those taxpayer dollars account for about 7 percent of the nonprofit’s $3 million budget. “In our efforts to make sure that we stay true to our value of 100-percent literacy for all, we strive to be as barrier-free as possible for our learners,” she says. “And more unrestricted dollars, more corporate giving, more individual giving allows us to do that.”
Helping, too, are Indy Reads’ 634 volunteers, like 35-year-old Christopher Woodworth, who runs a small business and real estate advising agency. Woodworth finds he can use the same advising skills employed in his business as “a nice healthy way for me to give back to the community.” He volunteers for three hours each week at Flanner House, a nonprofit facility that provides a full range of services to struggling families in Indianapolis. Indy Reads runs the education program there to help young adults earn their high-school equivalency diplomas. “Whatever the students happen to need, I’ll dive in and do the best I can to help answer their questions,” Woodworth says. “You know, what are your goals? What do you want to accomplish? How do we get there? There’s definitely some crossover with my advising kind of work. It’s just a lot of problem solving and understanding what their needs are.”
Volunteers are also an important part of a literacy program aimed at young learners in Marion County. ReadUp, funded by United Way of Central Indiana, pairs volunteers in one-on-one tutoring sessions with third-graders who need help passing the state’s reading proficiency exam. Volunteers work under the guidance of teachers and reading coaches.
Starting with just a couple of schools in Marion County two decades ago, ReadUp now has 308 volunteers in 23 schools all over Indianapolis and across the Central Indiana region, says Sam Snideman, a spokesperson for United Way of Central Indiana. ReadUp’s goal is to increase the number of volunteers to 400 in coming years.
Emily Hinojosa, the reading coach at Sense Charter School in Indianapolis, says her school became part of ReadUp two years ago. “We’ve had a really good success rate with students that are in the program passing IREAD,” the third-grade state exam, she says. “They read out loud with their tutor, and then the tutor can help them with the words. They can talk about the book. They can ask them about vocabulary words. It’s really helpful.”
It’s not just the children who benefit, Snideman says. Many of the volunteers are retirees looking to get out of their homes and engage with their communities. Reading at grade level is “certainly critical to the broader educational and life trajectory of those children, but it’s also such a meaningful and important thing for the volunteers,” he says. “One of the things that we know about social life today is just how often folks, particularly the elderly, are socially isolated.”
At Indy Reads, adult learner Rodney says his goal is to be able to read the Bible and books about his favorite sports heroes without stumbling over or skipping words as he goes. In preparation for that day, he recently asked his daughter to order a book he’s eager to read—Another Life: Discovering the Healing Power of Purpose on My Long Journey from Player to Preacher, by former Mets and Yankee star outfielder Darryl Strawberry. It’s an accomplishment long in the making, and he is especially thankful to those who have set him toward his goal. “If I’d had teachers like this in school, I wouldn’t be in this position. They are really hands-on, and they really care about the person that comes in.”
How You Can Help Local Literacy Efforts
Donations and volunteers are needed at the following nonprofit organizations:
Indy Reads: An Indianapolis nonprofit that provides tuition-free community classrooms and programming for adults focusing on basic literacy, English language learning (ESL), High School Equivalency (HSE) exam preparation, and job readiness training. They serve beginning-level literacy learners of all stages and operate via in-person and virtual classes. 317-384-1496
Indiana Literacy Association: Established in 2005, this statewide nonprofit is headquartered in Indianapolis. It supports literacy volunteers and organizations by providing professional development, networking opportunities, fundraising support, and grant writing to enhance access to basic skills education. 317-316-8875
ReadUp (United Way of Central Indiana): A targeted literacy initiative connecting volunteer tutors with local elementary schools. Volunteers spend one hour a week helping third-grade students who are reading below grade level build reading proficiency and confidence. 317-923-1466
Reach Out and Read Indiana: This early childhood initiative incorporates books into pediatric care for children from birth to age 5. Pediatric providers give new, developmentally appropriate books to young patients during checkups and coach parents on language-building routines.
Team Up for Literacy (Indiana Sports Corp): A collaborative initiative featuring partnerships with Indianapolis Indians Charities and Pacers Sports & Entertainment. The program uses sports engagement, community events, and seasonal reading challenges to promote regional literacy and support families year-round. 317-237-5000