Dominican-run ministry seeks tutors to help adults learn to read

Detroit — It’s not unusual for students to call the Dominican Literacy Center their family.

“When you give someone tools, it empowers them,” said Sr. Janice Brown, OP, a member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters and director of the center, which provides free reading instruction for adults.

The center, newly located within the Samaritan Center on Conner Avenue in Detroit, has been serving the community since 1989, when several Dominican sisters recognized the issue of illiteracy in the local population.

The center itself is one of six adult literacy programs run by the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

“This is very much a group in society that is invisible,” said Sr. Brown. “People don’t want to believe that a large part of the population cannot read.”

Today, it also offers the opportunity to complete one’s GED, receive adult basic education and learn English as a second language. One-on-one tutoring is a key part of building confidence in students, though the center also offers small classes for particular subjects.

Though numbers vary by students’ abilities to attend consistently, the center serves approximately 170 to 190 people each week. Currently the center encourages students to participate in at least five hours a week, said Sr. Brown.

She pointed out that without basic literacy skills, “wages people are able to pull are not family-sustaining,” and other things that literate individuals take for granted, such as traveling and reading nutrition facts on a box at the grocery story, are impossible.

“You aren’t able to travel if you can’t read the road signs,” Sr. Brown said.

Math is another issue — how can you determine cost-effective grocery shopping if you struggle with math? Fortunately, the center offers math instruction, too, Sr. Brown said.

There are dozens of reasons why individuals come to the center for tutoring and instruction, but Sr. Brown explained that “statistically, 50 to 80 percent of those in adult basic education are facing a learning disability.”

The personal tutoring, provided by volunteers, helps address this on an individual basis.

“Someone may be able to read at a 10th grade level but not do math,” or vice versa, said Sr. Brown.

The tutors include religious sisters, laypeople in the community, and Sacred Heart Major Seminary first-year seminarians as part of their ministries.

However, while the center recently moved into the Samaritan Center in the fall to keep up with rising demand for its services, it has consistently struggled to provide enough tutors to meet that demand. Sr. Brown emphasized the center’s need for more people who are willing to tutor.

Sr. Brown said seeking truth is part of the Adrian Dominicans’ charism, and “education is part of truth-seeking.”

She said many people are attracted to the literacy center “because we’re faith-based and mission-oriented,” and the center helps students learn “what is this plan God has for them.”

 

Dominican Literacy Center

Contact: (313) 267-1000; [email protected]

Become a tutor: Call and ask for Tyra Thompson or email her at [email protected]