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Judy Walsh, program coordinator, and June McCauley, volunteer coordinator, are enthusiastic about their work at the Center for Adult and Family Literacy, part of the Community College of Baltimore County in Maryland. Judy explains, "We serve around 3,000 students a year in over 200 classes and in about 40 different locations in the county, including college campuses, churches, apartments, public schools, businesses, senior centers, and libraries. Our program has to be flexible to meet the many different needs of the students, whether they are in ABE, GED, or ESOL classes.

"Our work is so rewarding! We get over 200 calls a week from individuals asking about enrolling in our program. They begin tentatively, because they want to get back into school, yet they don’t have the confidence that they can succeed. We explain the program, offer them options, and tell them about the support system we have in place. By the end of the call, you can hear the change of tone in their voice. They believe they can succeed and are excited to begin.

"Recently, when I first learned about LiteracyNetwork, I reviewed the course offerings and took a few to determine usability and relevance for our program. The course offerings are terrific! We plan to spread the word about the Thinkfinity Literacy Network courses and identify selected courses for teachers, counselors and volunteers. We have 207 volunteers in our program. From now on, we will encourage callers who express an interest in volunteering to take some introductory courses at Thinkfinity Literacy Network before attending our three-hour volunteer orientation.

"The LiteracyNetwork course content is excellent and presented in an efficient and effective manner. It addresses so many of the issues that adult learners face, and introduces volunteers to the world of the adult learner in a manner that really respects the life experience of these returning adults. Thank you for providing this valuable site!"