Building on a successful summer with the Achievement Academy and the Youth Education Program under the same roof, we have decided to officially combine the two programs, effective immediately. Several factors have led us to this decision, including the unexpected loss of our NC Literacy Corps AmeriCorps members* whom we relied on for staff support. With reduced staffing, we realized that we could no longer maintain two similar programs at different sites.
We are incredibly grateful to Durham Parks and Recreation for allowing the Patterson Center to be Achievement Academy's home for the last several years and are sad to no longer have a presence in the Crest Street community. However, we are confident that students will receive the best services by combining staff and resources. The combined program will now take place at Durham Literacy's headquarters, located at 1905 Chapel Hill Rd, Durham, NC 27707.
We are excited to bring the best of both programs together to make a real “dream team” of expert instructors, program staff, and volunteer tutors! Some details will get worked out over the coming year, but we already have a great start.
In our other programs, we have created two part-time positions to support Adult Literacy and ESOL students and tutors in the mornings and evenings. We are actively seeking resources to reboot our digital literacy program in the coming year, which was historically supported by our AmeriCorps members.
If you have any questions please contact Lizzie Ellis-Furlong, Durham Literacy's Executive Director, at lizzie@durhamliteracy.org, 919-489-8383, ext 22.
*The NC Literacy Corps was a grant-supported AmeriCorps program through our partner, the Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education (SCALE). SCALE is not receiving the AmeriCorps grant this year and thus we can no longer benefit from this program.