Dominican Literacy Center seeks volunteers for tutoring program

Wanted: Women to help women learn to read, write, speak English; training Jan. 18

The Dominican Literacy Center in Aurora seeks female volunteers to help women learn to read, write and speak English.

Alison Brzezinski, tutoring coordinator, said training will be offered from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18.

Training will take place at the center, 260 Vermont St. in Aurora, on the campus of St. Therese Catholic Church. Training is offered with instructors and video presentations.

Tutors do not need to speak a foreign language or have teaching experience. Instruction materials are available.

English-speaking women with high school diplomas are invited to train to tutor women one-on-one weekly to read, write and speak English. Tutors meet with students weekly for 90 minutes from January to May at the Dominican Literacy Center.

Call Alison Brzezinski at (630) 898-4636, Alison@dominicanliteracycenter.org, or visit dominicanliteracycenter.org for information or to volunteer.

Founded in 1994, the Dominican Literacy Center won a National Library of Congress Literacy Award for excellence in 2023. During its first year, the center resided in the basement of St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Aurora. In September 1994, the Dominican Literacy Center moved to its present location on the site of St. Therese Catholic Parish in Aurora.

Initially, the center served eight students with five volunteer women tutors. Currently, 150 students receive individual tutoring by 150 trained volunteers who meet weekly at the center on Aurora's far east side. The staff has grown from one to seven persons and more than 3,000 women have been tutored.