A Short History of a Long History of Service

Chronology

The Morgantown Affiliate of Literacy Vounteers of America (LV A) was started by the Soroptimist Club in 1983.

On March 1, 1984, there was a meeting of interested parties to establish a "Temporary Board" and they included 10 community members.

By the end of March, 1984, Literacy Volunteers of Monongalia County was recognized as a "Provisional Affiliate Member" of the WV Literacy Volunteers organization.

• They had $300 in the bank
• They had 21 tutors (17 basic reading, 4 ESL)
• They had 18 adult learners

In August, they approved a budget of $1625

The last existing minutes for 1984 were from the October meeting, where all officers were still listed as "temporary".

1985 records are spotty. We were still a Provisional Affiliate of WV LVA and Board members were still listed as "temporary".

1986 records are also spotty but items of note are:

• A budget of $1445
• The first mention of a grant from the Hott Fund for $125, and that fund continues to be a source of income today.
• The Board is still "temporary"
• September 30 was the First Annual Board Meeting of Literacy Volunteers of Monongalia County. Ardeth Deay, the temporary President, announced that LVMC will become a full affiliate of Literacy Volunteers of America on Oct 16 at the National Conference.

1987 minutes from March and again in September, reord discussions of whether to apply for support from United Way.

• At that time we had 40 tutor/learner pairs

1988 only has one document in our archives. A treasurer's report from February indicating a bank balance of $1730.

Where we are today:

• Celebrating our 29th year of service to the community!
• In 2007 we provided services to 495 volunteers and adult learners.
• A project in 2012 is set to serve 550 volunteers and adult learners.
• Budget goal of approximately $180,000 for combined Monongalia and Preston County agencies for 2008.
• Two part-time paid staff, recruiting for a third.
• History of working with AmeriCorp and Vista, now have one Americorp Volunteer working in the Healthy Together Network and one Vista Volunteer working in Preston County.
• Major funding from United Way, Mostly for salaries and related expenses.
• Major funding from Hazel Ruby McQuain Trust to support the Ruby Read Mobile Library in Preston County.
• We have our own space, generously donated and supported by Board member and past-President, Ellen Hrabovsky.
• Learning Center in Morgantown Public Library.
• Using various teaching tools and techniques to accommodate individual learning needs.
  • 1 : 1 training
  • Group ESL meetings
  • Basic Computer Classes
  • Quilting classes
  • Cooking classes
• Concentrating on grants and other sources of income such as:
  • Annual fund raising letter
  • Letters from Santa
  • Scrabble Tournament
  • Readin', Writin', Wrastlin' Tournament
  • Golf Tournament
  • Smaller fundraisers such as bake sales, pumpkin butter sales, etc.

Organizational Values

Integrity
We value integrity, which includes acting in a trustworthy manner, maintaining personal and professional confidentiality and being responsible, dependable and respectful.  Everyone will be held accountable for his or her actions. 

Positive and Achievable Outcomes
We value positive and achievable outcomes that demonstrate innovative responses to identified and emerging needs of those in our programs, our agency and our community.  We will choose avenues that lead to empowerment through mentoring and support. 

Supportive Environment
We value safe, comfortable and nurturing environments where affordable services are provided in a timely and supportive fashion. 

Collaboration
We value collaboration within the community and among other agencies that form partnerships with us to insure participant success.  We treasure honesty in all collaborative relationships.