Organization tackles literacy issues in Mohawk Valley

UTICA — Imagine not knowing how to read.

It’s probably more common than you think.

In Herkimer and Oneida counties, nearly half of the residents suffer from low literacy skills, a fact that severely limits future growth and prosperity, according to the Literacy Coalition of Herkimer and Oneida Counties.

The National Center for Education Statistics found that 11 percent of adults in Herkimer County lack basic literacy skills. In Oneida County, it’s 13 percent.

Basic skills range from being unable to read and understand any written information to being able to locate easily identifiable information in short, commonplace prose text in English, but nothing more advanced.

In response to the literacy problem facing adults, the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties (CFHOC), with Madison-Oneida BOCES, formed the Literacy Coalition of Herkimer and Oneida Counties in 2008.

“The community said this was important to us,” says Peggy O’Shea, president of the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, on why the coalition was created.

The coalition is currently made up of more than 300 community members with the common goal of 100 percent literacy through 100 percent community engagement.

During its first few years, the coalition was led by a staff member of the CFHOC with collective community support and the CFHOC “provided backbone support,” says O’Shea.

Then, in an effort to push the initiative forward and increase awareness of local literacy issues, O’Shea says the coalition needed two things: a plan and its own staff person. In April, 2012, the coalition hired Lara Sepanski Pimentel as its first executive director. At the time, Pimentel was commuting from Utica to Syracuse to complete her master’s degree at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. She graduated in June of that year, and began working full time at the coalition.

Before graduate school, Pimentel worked at the CFHOC as a program associate. In this role, about 25 percent of her workload was dedicated to the coalition, she says. While in graduate school, she was a fellow for the Community Foundation of Central New York in Syracuse, and spent time working with its Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County. By the time she was ready to return to her community, O’Shea says Pimentel was “really seasoned and educated” in the work of a literacy coalition.

The same year Pimentel was hired, the coalition created a community plan with help from a national consultant at the Literacy Powerline. The plan allowed for the coalition to formalize its structure and define its focus areas, which included improving school readiness, creating policies that embrace literacy as a foundation of success, and identifying performance indicators to measure success.

The Literacy Coalition of Herkimer and Oneida Counties is governed by an advisory board, and has eight volunteer action teams in relation to its focus areas.

Now, the coalition is housed at the United Way of the Valley and Greater Utica Area, which serves as Pimentel’s employer. While United Way does not grant money to the coalition, the United Way acts as the coalition’s fiscal sponsor by managing its funds and does not charge administrative fees to do so. With this arrangement, for example, all donation checks for the coalition would be made out to the United Way.

Prior to 2012, the coalition did not have its own operating budget. In 2012 and 2013, the CFHOC was the sole funder of the coalition. This year’s operating budget of $83,000 comes from M&T Bank/Partner’s Trust Bank Charitable Fund, a donor-advised fund of the CFHOC, and the CFHOC, says Pimentel.

Currently in the works
The coalition’s EZ Read book-sharing program, started last year, receives growing community interest. This program provides access to books in places where reading is not the main reason a person would visit the establishment, such as convenient stores, business, and government agencies.

The coalition held book drives to gather books to fill the shelves, resulting in thousands of new and used books donated. This year, the IBEW Local 43 built eight bookshelves for the program. At press time, the coalition has 27 EZ Read bookshelves located throughout the community.

To increase communication efforts, the coalition recently launched a “What’s Up” forum on its website. The forum, created by volunteer, John Sepanski (who’s also Pimentel’s father), allows for the action teams and volunteers to post updates regularly and have sidebar conversations about projects, instead of waiting for updates at monthly meetings or for Pimentel to send out mass emails of information.

On Sept. 25, the Literacy Coalition of Herkimer and Oneida Counties will host its first event fundraiser, Spell-A-Palooza: the Alexandra G. Kogut Literacy Fundraiser, held at Daniele’s at Valley View in Utica. The spelling-bee style event will pit adult local celebrities against 5th-grade students to raise money to support the efforts of the coalition and its partners.

As far as plans for the coalition to become its own 501(c)(3), Pimentel says it’s not in the works now, but the concept has been discussed. One of Pimentel’s concerns with the coalition becoming its own 501(c)(3), is that the area already has a huge number of nonprofits who are consistently tapping the same resources. “That’s not what we’re about,” says Pimentel. The goal, she says, is about being a resource to affect change in the community.

Originally from Whitesboro, Pimentel finds that working in her home community has become a valuable asset to her career. “It’s easier to work in a community when you live there. You have the history, know who’s who, have more help getting the work done …,” says Pimentel. When you know your community, she says, “you can have that much more of an impact.”

Contact Collins at ncollins@cnybj.com

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Literacy Coalition of Herkimer & Oneida Counties
201 Lafayette St.
Suite 201
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 733-4691 x243
Litpower.org

Founded: 2008
Employees: 1 full time
Volunteers: 300
Service Area: Herkimer and Oneida counties

Mission: The Literacy Coalition of Herkimer & Oneida Counties says it connects organizations in the region to the funding, advocacy, professional development, and service support they need to increase the availability of high-quality literacy programs. Through collaboration, the coalition says it raises awareness of low literacy, provides links to available services, and encourages the residents of Herkimer and Oneida counties to become lifelong learners. The goal is that through these commitments, all residents will have the opportunity to fully participate in society and support their community as active citizens.

Programs and Services:  EZ READ Community Bookshelves, Herkimer/Oneida Counties Leader of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, Convener for Literacy, and literacy-support programs.

Recent Organizational Highlights: Two-time recipient of Duffy Books in Homes USA Bonus Books, allowing nearly 50,000 books to be taken home free by local school children.  Grant recipient of funding from the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties (HOC) and the M&T Bank/Partners Trust Bank Charitable Fund.  Grant recipient of funding from the Alexandra G. Kogut Memorial Fund of The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties. And, a 2014 recipient of the Childcare Council of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s “Friend of Children Award.”

Fundraising Outlook: Inaugural Alexandra G. Kogut Literacy Fundraiser: Spell-a-Palooza on Sept. 25, and Giving Tuesday event on Dec. 3. Fundraising goal is $15,000 for the rest of 2014.

Key Staff
Executive Director: Lara Sepanski-Pimentel

Advisory Board
Chairperson: David Manzelmann, M&T Bank
Burt Danovitz, private consultant
Brenda Episcopo, United Way of the Valley & Greater Utica Area
Barbara Henderson, Community Foundation of HOC
Mary Kline, Herkimer BOCES
Marj Moore, Herkimer County Community College
Kathleen Rinaldo, BOCES Consortium of Continuing Education

Financial Data:  Fiscal year ending December, 31, 2013