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Literacy for Life Benefits from Charity Event

By Camas Frank ~

The SLO Literacy Council is no more. Don’t worry though, the organization that’s been helping non-literate adults in SLO County since the 1980s hasn’t gone anywhere, its just been transformed with a new name and a look that more accurately reflects their mission.

“The SLO Literacy Council sounded more like a governmental body. It was hard to tell what we do,” said Tom Franciskovich, a board member of the organization. “Literacy for Life evokes more of what we actually do with the community.”

The rebranding effort, along with a new website a slew of market research on targeting donors and modern video clips for use online, on TV and on the radio were all part of Verdin Marketing’s second – hopefully now annual – 24-hour Give event.

The rechristened Literacy For Life was chosen by voters from a list of nominated worthy organizations.

On November 11, the team at Verdin held a kick off party and was joined by other companies offering portions of their services to the organization.

On Nov. 12 they started bright and early working with executive director Bernadette Bernardi and board members Franciscovich and Rick Owens.

Through the day, the Literacy for Life leaders found out what it would be like to head up a large corporate entity or multinational NGO with a constant stream of meetings and decisions.

Many of the items on their agenda could have taken weeks or months of back and forth in normal circumstances, but with a challenge on the table to deliver $40,000 worth of services to the organization in less than a day, there just wasn’t time to dilly-dally.

“I’ve lost track of time today,” said Bernardi, “For a non-profit organization it’s a wonderful gift to have everything done at the same time, together the effect is multiplied exponentially.”

The organization helps an estimated 400-500 people in San Luis Obispo County annually to read and to communicate in English as a second language (ESL).

At the moment they have approximately 299 tutors offering services and 419 learners enrolled, with more than 21,000 hours logged in teaching time.

Claudia Marina Castro, a ESL student working with the organization for the last two years, was one of several who came to the Nov. 12 event to have their testimonials recorded.

Although profuse in her apologies for mistakes in English conversation, in truth she made none of any consequence, simply taking her time to express herself.

A high school teacher for 15 years in Mexico, Castro holds a master’s degree in education but found herself unprepared to resume her career on the Central Coast after moving here with her family.

“I want to say that two years ago I couldn’t speak anything [in English,]” she said, “I’m working for my teaching credential here. My tutor helped me apply to Cuesta to and they took 100 percent of my credits transferred.”

Castro believes that her English language skills need to be stronger before she goes back to work in her field of expertise, but in the meantime she’s grateful for the family atmosphere that the tutors and students have together and she’s using her knowledge to raise her son with strong bilingual abilities.

“They can keep more if they learn at that age. He already knows a lot of English but I use Spanish with him at home so he doesn’t lose that,” she explains.

To find out more about the work being done by Literacy For Life, go to their new website at: www.literacyforlifeslo.org.

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Justin Stoner

Justin is a journalist of more than 20 years. He specializes in digital technology and social media strategy. He enjoys using photography and video production as storytelling tools.