READ RVA CEO Mary Graham Discusses Adult Literacy on the RVA’s Got Issues Podcast

RVA’s Got Issues interviews READ RVA Chief Operating Officer, Mary Graham, about the adult literacy needs in the greater Richmond community. You can see the full transcript and listen to the podcast HERE.

This podcast begins with an interview with another RVA nonprofit. The READ RVA interview starts at the 17:52 mark.

Here is the transcript of Mary’s interview with Rich Meager of VPM’s RVA’s Got Issues:

TRANSCRIPT:

Rich Meagher:

Coming up, what if you have a problem, but people are really, really good at hiding it? That’s another dispatch from the front lines when we come back on RVA’s Got Issues.

This is RVA’s Got Issues from VPM. Sometimes a public problem is obvious, but sometimes it’s harder to see, even invisible. Mary Graham joins us from the front lines of one of those problems. Mary is Chief Executive Officer of READ RVA, a Richmond nonprofit that builds literacy in adults. Mary, welcome.

Mary Graham:

Thank you so much for having me.

Rich Meagher:

So, Mary, let’s start here, right? You do describe literacy, uh, as an invisible problem. Like, what, what does that mean?

Mary Graham:

So, there are actually 100,000 folks in Greater Richmond that do not read at a functional level, and that impacts every aspect of their life. From, can I understand the notes that came home with my child from school?

Rich Meagher:

Mm.

Mary Graham:

Can I read to my child? Can I fill out a job application, a driver’s license, voter registration? Can I educate myself on the candidates? Can I navigate a bus schedule? Can I read, um, uh, a food label if I have instructions from my doctor to cut my sodium or watch my sugar because of diabetes? Anything and everything that you do, I don’t think people realize how much literacy is something that folks take for granted, but I will say our population is really good at hiding the problem.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah, right. You have to be really smart to kind of function, uh, as an adult and still, you know, to have this low literacy, right? These, these are sharp people.

Mary Graham:

They are very sharp. They will, you know, memorize a bus schedule ahead. They will turn to somebody and say, “I forgot my glasses. Can you read this to me? ” You know, I’m, I am humbled every day by our students because there is so much stigma. If you think about it as an adult to walk in somewhere and say, “Please help me. I cannot read well enough and it’s, um, impacting the quality of my life and my family’s life.” There’s a lot of stigma against it and people find it embarrassing and yet we have students that will ride a bus an hour and a half, sit through two hours of classes twice a week and then, you know, take that bus back home just committed to getting their dreams and getting the dreams of their families and improving their lives.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. We’re, we’re already getting at this a little bit, but I, I really think, uh, because when I first heard about this issue of literacy, right, I think people understand at face value, like, oh, sure, it may be much harder to live your life if, if you have trouble reading. But I, I just don’t think we get the scope of the problem. So what does that mean in terms of the effects that are, are on our society, like the, how we’re living?

Mary Graham:

Oh, gosh. I don’t think people realize how much their neighbors having low literacy impacts the quality of that neighborhood and of the, of the community, you know, not just for workforce opportunities, but having citizens that can engage in things and understand what’s going on and participate fully in life. You want that for your neighbors and also setting their kids on a path to success. One of the things that folks don’t realize, if you correct for everything else, the mother’s reading level is the biggest impact on how the child does in school. So it’s a multi-generational equity issue, um, in terms of getting kids the opportunities to have, have their dreams in a better life.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah, you keep mentioning equity. Who does this affect? I’m gonna guess, because this is Richmond, right, that there’s a racial component.

Mary Graham:

Absolutely. 66% of our students are, are black currently. Um, only 13% are white. Uh, we don’t serve as many Latino students and Hispanic students as you would think because we do not do the English as a second language, we refer to that, but it’s definitely an equity issue. And it’s folks that were just passed along in school. We have a lot of folks that have graduated from high school who are in our programs who don’t read at a third grade level.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. I was wondering, like, how does that happen? How can you get through high school without being able to read?

Mary Graham:

They just get passed along. You know, um, I asked one student that and he said, “Well, I couldn’t read, but I sure could play football.”

Rich Meagher:

<laugh> Okay. Yeah. And so it depends on the school, I imagine, right? But these folks can just kinda make their way through. So I wanna go back to something you said, uh, this idea, uh, about the predictors of this, right? You said the biggest predictor of how people are able to read is at their, their mother’s literacy level?

Mary Graham:

How a child does academically.

Rich Meagher:

Okay.

Mary Graham:

Does academically is tied to how well the mother reads.

Rich Meagher:

So I’m guessing that it, is, is part of what you folks are trying to do by teaching adults to read is sort of break that cycle?

Mary Graham:

Absolutely. It’s a multi-generational system. And so the more that we can have an impact now, the better. Now, we ha- we serve students that are anywhere from 18 to upper 90s-

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Mary Graham:

… but the earlier that we can catch folks, you know, as they’re becoming parents, the better, you know.

Rich Meagher:

So you just said upper 90s? There are folks who come in to see you-

Mary Graham:

Yes, yes.

Rich Meagher:

… like that, that old?

Mary Graham:

Yes, they do. And they want, they want, yes, the pleasure of reading, but they also are tired of being dependent on everybody for everything. They are really proud and inspiring folks. I am humbled and awed by our students every single day.

Rich Meagher:

So this sounds like it is a big problem, right? Why aren’t more people, organizations, like, trying to address this? Why is it that I, why am I first hearing about this now from you, Mary?

Mary Graham:

Yes, we are a well kept secret. We are the only nonprofit in Greater Richmond area that focus solely on adult literacy. You know, we, we do partner with folks that touch tangential issues. For example, adult ed brings us in because there are a lot of folks that wanna get their GED, but they don’t read well enough or they don’t have the math skills yet to even get through a GED class. So we are that kind of pre, pre-level to them. I think it’s really important that we’ve stayed really focused on this one problem as the only ones currently working in it. And yes, it’s a well-kept secret. We need to, we need to find more students. That’s one of the reasons I’m here.

Rich Meagher:

Mm.

Mary Graham:

We need to identify them and get them into our program.

Rich Meagher:

So how many people do you touch through your program?

Mary Graham:

So we have about 245, 250 now. We’re trying to get to 300 this year, but we have so much opportunity to grow beyond that.

Rich Meagher:

How does it work for the, like, the day-to-day? Let’s say I’m someone who’s suffering from low literacy. I’ve learned about your group. I come to you. What do I do? I enroll in classes? Do I meet with a tutor? How does it work for me?

Mary Graham:

So if you’re reading third grade or lower, you come to our classes and you’re there twice a week for two hours. We use the Wilson curriculum, which is, you know, uh, very highly respected and evidence-based and-

Rich Meagher:

And designed for adults.

Mary Graham:

And designed for adults. And then we test after every 40 hours so we know- they get tested at the beginning, so we level them and then test it after 40 hours so we can move them along at their pace. We don’t graduate or certify because everybody has their own reason for being there.

Rich Meagher:

Mm.

Mary Graham:

It’s all about their dreams. It’s empowering them to get their dreams, what’s missing from their life and what skillset do they need to be happy and healthy and thriving. And that’s different for every person. We also have additional programs if students choose. We have a book club, we have some tutor time where they can come get extra help. From time to time, we’ll do classes on basic math, on how to use your phone, on digital literacy, financial stability. So we do do some special classes too, but if you’re reading fourth grade or up to eighth, we would place you with a highly trained tutor who would meet with you, um, outside, or we send tutors into our partners.

So we have tutors that go into adult ed. We have tutors that are in, uh, both, um, the Richmond City Justice Center and the Pomonkey Jail, and they go to the students there. We go into adult ed and put our tutors with the students in GED classes-

Rich Meagher:

Right.

Mary Graham:

… and help them get through it. So we’re, we’re a very flexible program because we have to be. Our students’ needs are, you know, there’s pretty broad spectrum of skillset and needs.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah. And I’m imagining there’s some barriers to some of these folks, like if you’re saying they’re suffering from low literacy, they’re probably also, you know, they’re not necessarily, uh, maximizing their economic opportunities, right? Maybe they don’t have the best jobs. So I’m just wondering, who pays for all this? Do you charge fees to students? Is it all donations? How does it work?

Mary Graham:

It is absolutely free. And it’s interesting you brought up that issue about, uh, all the other needs that they have. We just started something called ConnectWell, which is a way to help our students thrive. You know, if there’s a reason they’re not coming because they’re having health issues or paperwork issues, so we have a social worker who has office hours with them to see, “Oh, do you need help with your housing? Do you need help with your transportation so that you can get, get to our program and succeed in it without the other worry?” So it really is quite a bit of wraparound services. Um, in terms of our, uh, funding, absolutely students do not pay a penny to come to class. We get our money from a variety of sources, as you can imagine, foundations. We get some, uh, city and county money, we get, uh, a lot of donor money, we get, uh, some money from events that we do as well.

Rich Meagher:

What might you be doing to try to change the story about these students? I mean, you seem inspired by them and you seem to have a good understanding of the issue. So what are you doing to try to change the stigma that’s surrounding the folks who, who live with low literacy?

Mary Graham:

Sure. One of the things that I am proudest of is the way we work with our partners to have back and forth referrals so that they know it’s a safe space when they come, but also I love the environment we’ve created. We have students that just come and hang out all day.

Rich Meagher:

<laugh>

Mary Graham:

You know, the ones that are retired or don’t have jobs will, will hang out all day. It is welcoming. It is encouraging. We are cheering them on. Um, once we can get that contact with them, it’s great. It’s getting them to come make that contact that’s a little hard.

Rich Meagher:

Yeah.

Mary Graham:

But once they do, they find it a really positive environment. And we’re trying to expand that environment into more communities that need us.

Rich Meagher:

Mary Graham is CEO of READ RVA. Thanks, Mary.

Mary Graham:

Thanks for having me here. Thanks for helping us get the word out.

Rich Meagher:

That’s our show. Thanks to our guests, Stephanie Arnold and Mary Graham. Tell us about your issues.