History
In 1984, Literacy Volunteers of Doña Ana County (LV-DAC) was founded as a community response to local needs. We are a non-profit (501 (c) 3) organization that trains volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring to adults who want to improve their basic reading, writing, math, and English as a Second Language skills. Instruction is individualized and based on the real-life needs of learners. LV-DAC has tutoring sites throughout Doña Ana County, and our services are free to learners and to volunteers.
Today: LV-DAC serves about 500 literacy learners with about 100 volunteers per year. The organization was granted 501(c)3 status under its own name in February, 2004, and is well served by a twelve member volunteer Advisory Council. A past Chair of the Council, Margaret Haley, was selected as Governor Bill Richardson’s Volunteer of the year for 2005/2006. Council Treasurer Sylvia J. Rodriguez was named the “Council Member of the year” by the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy in 2006/2007. Kris Witte is the current Chair of our Advisory Council.
Affiliations: LV-DAC works closely with local, state, and national adult education partners. We are:
- a member of the statewide New Mexico Coalition for Literacy, and
- an accredited affiliate of ProLiteracy America.
ProLiteracy America, our accrediting body, was formed in 2002 from the merger of Literacy Volunteers of America and Laubach Literacy International, is a network of 1,200 local adult literacy programs across the United States.
Services: We provide literacy services directly and through several partners in Doña Ana County:
- The Adult Basic Education Division of Doña Ana Community College and its satellite locations
- The Mesilla Valley Community of Hope (Services for the Homeless)
- Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility
- Doña Ana County Detention Center
- Community Action Agency (Coordinates various social services)
Staff: At present LV-DAC has two paid staff members: a full-time Education Facilitator and the Literacy Services Coordinator, who is also a faculty member of the ABE Division of DABCC with duties and responsibilities to both organizations. In addition, we coordinate some literacy classes taught by paid part-time teachers, and we can often hire two or three college students who work as part-time Literacy Associates through the NMSU financial aid work study program. These Associates tutor new learners before they are matched with a volunteer tutor and assist staff with other duties.
Support: LV-DAC is supported by
- donations from individuals and businesses
- annual operating grants from the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy
- in-kind support from the Adult Basic Education Division of DACC
- occasional grants from other sources, like the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and the Wolslager Foundation
- Hastings Books, Music, and Videos, which raises funds for us at its Las Cruces Store and hosts our monthly scrabble fundraiser
- The Mesilla Valley Writers, who have donated tutor manuals for new volunteer tutors
- The Rotary Club, and other community organizations
Partners: LV-DAC’s chief partner organization is the Adult Basic Education (ABE) Division at Doña Ana Community College (DACC), whose mission is to provide access to education in a supportive and collaborative environment that leads to student success and life-long learning. ABE at DACC is the largest ABE programs in New Mexico, and in 1985 and 1992, was the recipient of the U.S. Secretary Of Education Award for Program Excellence; in 1986, 1993, 2000, & 2007 ABE at DABCC was awarded Program of the Year by the New Mexico Adult Education Association.
The Target Population: Our target population is adults with low literacy skills. This population needs support in various forms to suit both individual differences in learning styles, and, just as importantly, the constraints imposed by the poverty and lack of social opportunities that partly result from lack of literacy skills.
Southern New Mexico is relatively poor in job opportunities, and its large Hispanic population has a higher than average school-leaving rate. In addition, many residents are immigrants, or the children of immigrants, and the educational background in many families is pre-secondary, in both the country of origin (which is most often Mexico) and here. Thus we have a large population of people whose need for literacy and education is high.
The opportunities for accessing education for those at the lowest literacy levels has consisted largely of our volunteer literacy tutors. Our mission is to increase those opportunities.
Becoming literate is a complex learning challenge for these adults. We believe that the intense learning environment that we provide will significantly raise learner persistence and success, and lead to important improvements in their social and economic well-being in healthier, more prosperous communities in Doña Ana County, NM.