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Happy Summer! We hope everyone is enjoying our beautiful monsoons, time with family, and taking the time to rejuvenate. I can’t think of a better time to share our annual report for 2016-2017 with you all. While sifting through all of our data from this year, it afforded me the opportunity to reflect upon the incredible accomplishments of our organization. Both our learners and volunteers literally gave thousands of hours of their time in the name of education and social justice. Through the generous financial support we received this year, we have been able to increase our budget and are looking at ways to increase our programs and services, reaching more learners than ever. We plan to add an employment literacy program for female inmates of Coconino County jail, several more ESL classes, and a U.S. citizenship class to address the ever-changing needs of our learners. See below for a electronic copy of this year’s report.
I had the opportunity to teach in the jail multiple times this year and there’s a story I want to share with you all that I feel truly captures everything we do at TLC. I was doing a writing exercise with the male inmates and I could tell one of the inmates was struggling to get a single letter down on paper. I knelt down beside him and quietly asked if I could help him. Barely above a whisper, he asked, “Can you help me spell my son’s name?”. We worked together, and for the first time in that man’s life, he managed to write his son’s name. For me, this is the essence of what we do and why our work is so important. The path to eliminating illiteracy in our community oftentimes starts with the smallest of steps and every time we serve our learners, we have the chance to make a difference.
It’s hard to believe that August is right around the corner. We look forward to everyone returning from break and can’t wait to hear about all of your summer adventures! Thank you again to everyone for a wonderful year – we can’t wait to see what this next year holds for TLC!
Dianna Sanchez, Executive Director
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