SINCE ITS FIRST DAYS when two volun-teers tutored four young, low incomemothers, Dorcas Place Adult and FamilyLiteracy Center has benefited from thethousands of hours that hundreds of volun-teers have contributed.

Now with a paid staff of over 60 profes-sionals and over 50 people who volunteeredthis year, the Center is able to serve moreadult students than ever before.Workingwith passion, purpose, energy and commit-ment, these volunteers have brought anabundance of skills to serving the agencywhile providing critical support to our adultstudents as they devote themselves to contin-uing their education.

Who are they? According to volunteercoordinator Steve Stycos, many are retiredteachers or other professionals, students wish-ing to fulfill a public service credit, or arepart of a work-study program. Graduates ofDorcas Place programs and current studentsalso give their time to teach, encourage andsupport their peers.

There are many good reasonswhy people volunteer.

For 3-year veteran volunteer Sister EstherHannigan, there are many reasons.Tutoringadult students at Dorcas Place is a pleasure she

says and “adult students, are highly motivated.”A retired parochial-school teacher,

Hannigan particularly enjoys connectingpersonally with each student.

“I love the one-on one teaching, where Ican individualize the lessons and clearly see theprogress of each student as she or he works.”

One student, she explained, was extremelynervous when tutoring began.Then Hanniganworked with her on test-taking strategies andwatched as her confidence built.

Because of the “private” tutoring sessions

The Newsletter for Dorcas Place Adult and Family Learning Center

Inside this issue: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Celebrates Opening of New Wing page 2Student Recognition Event Highlights 7 Spelling Bee a Rousing Success 4

FALL 2005

continued on page 6

Volunteers Matter. They are at the heartof our agency and laid the groundwork for our success.

Learning How to Teach a LearnerVolunteers (above) receive training at Dorcas Place.

As we conclude our 24th year, it seemsappropriate to feature our volunteers who haveplayed such a special role in our success.

Volunteers are vital to fulfilling the mission ofDorcas Place.These dedicated, caring people bringtheir time, energy, talents and expertise into our

agency on a daily basis.We are aware of their pres-ence mornings, evenings and weekends in everyone of our programs—as literacy and math tutors,career mentors, office workers, fundraisers, advisorsand much, much more. Our students benefit fromtheir knowledge, life experience, and personal coun-sel.And our staff counts on their assistance.

We cannot do this work alone.With a rapidlyexpanding student body, new space, and addedprograms, we would never have the resources tosatisfy our needs without our volunteers.

Our staff spotlight will shine on Steven Stycos,who actively recruits, coordinates and nurtures the

people who fill these essential positions through-out the year. Recently placed in this position, you will learn about the wealth of experience he offers to the volunteers with whom he works and to the agency in general.

You will also learn about our ribbon cuttingevent that was a smashing success.

We celebrated the opening of our CareerAcademies, the expansion of our LearningResource Center and the completion of our capital campaign by exceeding our goal—allimpossible without the critical role played by our volunteer board fundraisers.

2 Learning Matters • fall 2005

Brenda Dann-Messier, Ed.D.President

Staff

Robin W.AdamsMoin AjmiriAmelia AllardDebbie AnthesJeanne AntonelliThomas AsheNancy AtiyolilDonna BaileySharron BaldasaroWayne BarbozaEdward BochnerTracy BergAlfonso BorgesRebecca BoxxApril BrophyAnna BrownElexi CampbellShannon CarrollCarolyn CobleClaudia CordonFung ChanAngela CurielBrandy CurtisAngela DowningChantal DuncanDamaris EspinalCarol EvansEdith FigueroaRobert ForandRaul FortiElizabeth GleasonAnta HaneSuzanne HarknessRita HolahanBel KambachDebora JonesMyra KergeFabiola KinneyMarie LalyreMelanie LamountainJanet LopesAurora LoredoEileen LuvianoBea MettsLatoya O’nealJessica OrtizCynthia PennoyerTom PartridgeLaura PerezLori PhillipsSusan Poor

Dorcas Place Adult and Family Learning Center, Inc.

220 Elmwood Avenue, Providence, RI 02907(401) 273-8866 fax: (401) 273-8893web: www.dorcasplace.org email: info@dorcasplace.org

Message from our President

Brenda Dann-Messier

Nicole PurcellJohanna QuattrucciSusan ReillyNicole RicoMyrna RiveraTracy RobbinsMaribel RodriguezMercedez RodriguezJuan SalasSheiron SanchezMagaly SantilPatricia SpannSteven StycosJason TetreaultVeronica UgarteClayton Plager UngerAna VargasVictoria VargasElsa VieiraCindy WarnerWilliam WalmsleySusanne WissellWendy Zambrano

Board of Directors

Robinson Alston, Jr., ChairArthur Schacht, Vice ChairJames Fitzgerald, TreasurerGilda Hernandez, SecretaryHeidi Quill, Member-at-LargeKevin Woods, Member-at-LargeVictoria AlmeidaMitzi BerkelhammerSuzanne CarcieriMary ChaceSandra Cheng Joan CountrymanJack D’ArcyMary-Jude DeanWilliam DevereauxPatrice Di MarioHelena FoulkesChristine HeenanRobin KrakowskyJudy LundstenBhikhaji ManeckjiSara Shea McConnellKevin PerrySusan SymondsTom WalshJudy WilsonJim Yancy

THE PARKING LOT WAS FILLED TO CAPAC-ITY as an animated crowd gathered in frontof the Dorcas Place Adult and FamilyLiteracy Center, to celebrate the completionof its ambitious $2.1 million capitalcampaign and the official opening of the4,000 square foot wing.This new spacehouses the innovative Career Academies,designed to train low-income adult studentsfor jobs in specific industries, and provides anew and larger space for the communityacademic drop-in center, which will enableDorcas Place to serve more adult students.

It was the place to be—as communityactivists, dignitaries, students, area residentsand long time funding partners joined in the

morning through noon festivities whichincluded a standing-room only speakingprogram and lunch with students and staff.

Following the ribbon cutting ceremony,students escorted guests into the buildingwhere President Brenda Dann-Messierwelcomed everyone and introduced suchluminaries as: Governor Donald Carcieri,Senator Lincoln Chafee, Representative JamesLangevin and Mayor David Cicilline.

Carolyn Walo, one of two student speakers,shared her story with the audience. She spokeabout how Dorcas Place “has changed the wayI see myself and the way my family sees me.”

Where she once had difficulty expressingherself, she demonstrated her newly gained

confidence as she spoke before the packedand appreciative audience.

Walo came to Dorcas Place to improve herreading and math skills. Her family has beenpleased to support her efforts to continue hereducation and improve her chances in life.And she is pleased to be doing so well!

Joseph MarcAurele, President and CEO of Citizens Bank of Rhode Island, a longtime advocate and tremendous supporter of Dorcas Place, spoke of the significance of the Career Academies that will train low-income adult students for specific career pathsand provide them with opportunities for postprogram employment within the year.

James Davies, one of the first students toenroll in the Career Academy’s CustomerService Program, spoke about how the acad-emy has helped him more clearly define lifeand work goals.

A high school graduate in his nativeLiberia, Davies came to the state in 2003because of the war and to “seek a bettereducation and life opportunities.”

At the Dorcas Place Career Academy,Davies is exploring different career options.He eagerly shared his experience as a studentin this unique program and how it hasprovided him with the opportunity to serve as an onsite intern in the ClothingCollaborative. Next he will do an internshipin the business world, he told the audience,as he described how he is preparing foremployment in some area of the hospitalityindustry.

Certificate Awards were presented to BankAmerica,The Rhode Island Foundation andthe United Way of Rhode Island for theextraordinary support they have given to thedevelopment of the Career Academies.

Mary Chace, Chair of the board, madeclosing remarks and invited guests to go onstudent led tours of the agency and joinstudents, staff, friends and family for lunch.

Learning Matters • fall 2005 3

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Celebrates Our New Wing

The Emcees

The Pronouncers

The Teams (round one)

MetLife Auto & Home reignedvictorious at our second AnnualSpell R-H-O-D-E-I-S-L-A-N-D

Challenge, held Wednesday, September 28 atURI’s Paff Auditorium in Providence.With 23teams competing from Rhode Island businesses and non-profits, theevent netted over $28,000 for our Workforce Literacy Programs.

Governor Donald Carcieri and First Lady Suzanne Carcieri joinedDorcas Place President and CEO Brenda Dann-Messier and Board

Chair Robinson Alston Jr. to kick off the eventand retrieve the championship trophy held

by our 2004 Challenge champs, theSpellbinders from the RI Department ofHuman Services.

The spirited competition, emceed byMayor David Cicilline and NBC 10

Education Reporter and WeekendAnchor Kelley McGee, included four

semi-final rounds and challenged even the most seasonedspellers with words like “perinephrium” and “hebdo-mad.”Teams from RI Legal Services, ClarendonGroup,Women & Infants Hospital, and MetLife Auto& Home competed in the championship round—where MetLife edged out Women & Infants,correctly spelling “mnemonically” for the win.

Between semi-final rounds, we heard from DorcasPlace students Gunraya Sayavong, Julio Alonzo,and Wendy Zambrano, who reminded us all of the real reason for the evening.

The 2005 Spell R-H-O-D-E-I-S-L-A-N-DChallenge was organized by Event Co-Chairs Sara Shea McConnell,Patricia Coleman, and SusanSymonds and a dedicatedcommittee of Dorcas Placevolunteers. Many thanks toKarla Harry and LynnBowman from the GordonSchool, to our timekeeperSenator Juan Pichardo, andour judges Justice DonaldShea, Michael Pare, ProvidenceBusiness News Editor, and Debra

Who knew that spelling

4 Learning Matters • fall 2005

Learning Matters • fall 2005 5

The Judges

The Defending Champs

The Winners

Cusack from the Gordon Schoolfor ensuring the smooth progression of the

event—from the first word to the last.Teams and sponsors for the 2005 Spell

R-H-O-D-E-I-S-L-A-N-D Challengeincluded Adler Pollock & Sheehan PC,Christine & Michael Angelakis,Barrington Printing, Blue Cross & BlueShield of Rhode Island,“Teem Casey”from Casey Family Services, Inc.,“The CityHall Spellers” from Providence City Hall,“TheCCRI Scrabblers” from Community College ofRhode Island,“The (Clarentheticals)” from Clarendon Group, Inc.,“Orthographers Unlimited” from Counseling & PsychologicalServices,“The Fidelity Frogs” from Fidelity Investments, Johnson

& Wales University, KPMG LLP, Meeting Street, MetLife Auto &Home,“The Miriam Spellcheckers” from

The Miriam Hospital, Motley Rice LLC, NarragansettElectric, Neighborhood Health Plan,“PPLSyllabicators” from Providence Public Library,RDW Group, Inc., Residential Properties Ltd,“The Spellbinders” from the Rhode IslandDepartment of Human Services,“Worksite

Spellness” from Rhode Island Department of Health,“RILS Spellcheckers” from Rhode Island Legal

Services,“Sovereign Spell Checks” from Sovereign Bank,Susan Symonds,“Spell Hath No Fury” from Textron

Financial, and “The Spelling Storks” from Women & InfantsHospital.

In-kind contributors included Civic CenterParking Associates, Financial Innovations,Pippin Apple Orchards, Phantom Farms

Orchards, Polar Beverages, Sam’sClub Warwick, Shaw’sSupermarkets, and SwarovskiNorth America, Ltd.

Plans are already underwayfor our third Annual Spell R-H-O-D-E-I-S-L-A-N-D

Challenge that will be part of our year-long 25th Anniversary Celebration. Please save

the date and join us on September 27, 2006!

could be so much fun?

6 Learning Matters • fall 2005

Steven Stycos Volunteer Coordinator

and diversity of the student body, she haslearned a great deal about other countrieswhere many of the Center’s students oncelived and what their lives were like beforecoming to Providence.

There are numerous opportunitiesfor volunteering at Dorcas Place.

Though tutoring provided the first volun-teer opportunity at Dorcas Place, there aremany options now for people with a varietyof skills who want to become involved in supporting adult and family education in our programs.

This year volunteers have: coachedstudents in career choices, mentored peopleon the job, assisted teachers in the classroom,served on committees, raised funds, typedand answered office phones, processed cloth-ing donations, and given time to our annualSpelling Bee.

Those who tutor, may meet with studentsface to face in the class or the Learning

Resource Center, or offer counsel on thephone or work with children and parents inour after-school COZ program at AlfredLima Elementary School. Many maintain thestudent-teacher relationship as Dorcas Placegraduates go onto post-secondary school or enter the job market.

Because of the diversity of the tasks,volunteers with all kinds of skills and talentsare welcomed.And Steve Stycos recruitsthem from all over.The Dorcas Place web-site details each volunteer position and itsrespective qualifications.The VolunteerCenter of Rhode Island runs ads twice ayear in the Providence’s major newspaper.

And students from Brown University andJohnson & Wales have long been volunteers.

How do volunteers make a difference?

In its earliest days, Dorcas Place had a“zero-based budget,” founder and formerExecutive Director Mary Reilly claims, and

volunteers provided all tutoring services.Today, President and Director Brenda

Dann-Messier points out, with an ever-growing body of low-income adult students,many of whom face unique learning challenges, Dorcas Place has expanded itsprograms to meet student needs in a 21stcentury economy that requires a highlyeducated workforce.Today professionalteachers and counselors perform many of the services that early tutors did—butvolunteers are vital to providing the extracurricula support, mentoring and rolemodeling so essential to building the confi-dence and skills of our students.

Without the continued support of ourvolunteers over the years, we would not beable to look forward to celebrating our 25thbirthday next year.

If you would like to volunteer, or wantmore information, please contact our volun-teer coordinator, Steve Stycos (273-8866 ext. 155) or email sstycos@dorcasplace.org.

Volunteers continued from front page

• • • • • S T A F F S P O T L I G H T O N • • • • •

With a fascinating employmenthistory that includes freelancewriting on immigrant rights,

health care and childhood lead poisoning;and representing a labor union where henegotiated contracts and ran the union’ssummer school for stewards; Steven Stycosbrings significant skills and knowledge to hiscurrent position.

As a member of the Cranston SchoolCommittee, Steve Stycos once recruitedvolunteers to husk 1300 ears of corn for theschool lunch program—so that the childrencould have fresh vegetables inexpensively—earning his credentials as a volunteer andvolunteer recruiter.

A recruiter, organizer, trainer, manager, andexcellent communicator—essential roles forhis position—Stycos has filled each onecomfortably since coming to Dorcas Place ayear ago.

He recruits through the press, volunteerorganizations, online ads in English andSpanish, and through the school studentbody. He organizes volunteers, matchingpeople skills and knowledge with the tasksthat need to be accomplished on a volunteer

basis. He arranges orientation, tours, andtraining sessions for each volunteer; monitorstheir work through the year; and is availableon an ongoing basis to supervise, discuss, andcounsel volunteers as they go through theprocess of volunteer tutoring or assistingteachers in the classrooms.

Steve particularly enjoys watching themutually rewarding interaction betweenteachers and students, noting how “thirstystudents are to complete their education”and how much tutors learn in turn fromeach of their students.

A resident of Cranston and the father oftwo, Stycos is pleased to be at Dorcas Place.“It’s a good place to get people to read andwrite… and clearly fills a need in thecommunity.”

Learning Matters • fall 2005 7

Dorcas Place Honors 150 Students at Annual Recognition Event

FRIENDS, FAMILIES AND STAFF applauded150 adult students for their outstandingacademic achievements, as all attended the2005 Annual Student Recognition Eventheld at Johnson and Wales University thispast spring.

Keynote speaker Rhode Island DistrictCourt Justice William Clifton mesmerized thecrowd as he spoke of growing up in a familywhich was poor yet prized education andencouraged him and his siblings to pursue theirdreams through high school, college and ontopost graduate studies.All are now successfulprofessionals who encourage their own childrento make education a priority in their lives.Asan African American man, Judge Clifton servedas a model for our diverse student body, manyof whom could identify with his early strugglesand educational ambitions.

Two students shared their Dorcas Placeexperiences with students’ families andguests.Albert Sesay thanked all the people

who have “been instrumental and kind inproviding financial and moral support toDorcas Place,” thus allowing him “to achievewhat I consider a major step toward further-ing my education.” By improving, writing,math and language skills, Sesay is well on hisway to earning his GED diploma andacquiring the computer skills necessary for a post-secondary education.

Before Dorcas Place,“my life was verydifferent. I was a little afraid of speaking toother people in English.” Lourdes Rijo toldthe fellow students and friends.

Lourdes came to Providence from theDominican Republic in 2002, and spokeabout how her life has changed by comingto Dorcas Place. Since enrolling in Englishclasses, she said,“I am not afraid of speakingto other people, and I plan to continueimproving my English, go to college andobtain my degree in accounting.”

Lieutenant Charles Fogarty and Secretary

of State Matt Brown presented citations tothe deserving students.Ten students receivedhigh school equivalency diplomas.

The event also recognized the contribu-tion of several individuals and foundationsthat have been major supporters of improv-ing adult education services in RhodeIsland. Both State Senator Juan Pichardo andstate Representative Joseph Almeida receivedDorcas Place Government Service Awards.

The Rhode Island Foundation and theCollis Family Foundation were honoredwith the Dorcas Place Community PartnerAwards. Mary Chace, the outgoing chair ofthe board of directors, accepted the agency’sDistinguished Service Award.

Two awards, named for the women who founded Dorcas Place in 1981, werepresented. Helen Drew received the MaryReilly Advocacy Award and Carolyn Parkerwas presented with the Deborah ThompsonSustaining Spirit Award.

Keynote speaker Judge William Clifton Wows the Crowd

Non-ProfitU.S. Postage

PAIDProvidence, RIPermit No. 813

DORCAS PLACE

220 Elmwood AvenueProvidence, RI 02907

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Fall 2005 • Volume 2 • Issue 2 Learning Matters is a publication of Dorcas Place Adult & Family Learning Center, Inc. ©2005, all rights reserved.Editor: Carol R. Scott Coordinator: Donna Bailey Designer: Gene Yoon Development: Rita L. Holahan Proofreader: Steve Stycos

Notable News

Annual Fund Appeal of $150,000to Support Increased Enrollment,Class HoursAs you may know, last spring Dorcas Place successfully completedits Capital Campaign.We’re energized by all that we have accom-plished with the help of many generous supporters: renovation ofthe final wing, our new Career Academy, and the retirement of ourmortgage! Despite our increased capacity, the gap in servicesis tremendous. Adult basic education programs statewide serveless than 10% of eligible adults due to lack of capacity.At DorcasPlace we record weekly over 70 walk-in and telephone requests forclasses. Hundreds of students remain on our lists, and some are

waiting up to eight months to enroll!We have the opportunity to have an even greater impact

on our community’s need for adult basic literacy educa-tion. Our 2005-2006 Annual Fund Campaign is critical to oursuccess.When you receive our Annual Fund appeal in the nextfew weeks, please take a moment to review our program updatesand student news and then please make a pledge of support. Giftsto our Annual Fund support each of our Adult Basic Education,GED, ESOL,Workforce and Family Literacy programs, andprovide critical matching dollars that leverage government andprivate grants to help fully fund our programs.

With your help we can plan for the future and open our doorseven wider to the growing numbers of low-income adults andfamilies seeking their chance for a better life.

There are many ways to contribute…Checks made payable to “Dorcas Place”, direct designationsthrough your workplace via either the United Way, SECA or CFC, or you may charge your pledge with VISA/MC by calling Dorcas Place, 273-8866, ext. 111.

8 Learning Matters • fall 2005

Since 1981, Dorcas Place Adult and Family Learning Centerhas been giving low-income Rhode Islanders the educational opportunities they need to realize their full potential—and climb the ladder to success—through literacy, workplace training, college preparatory programs and employment.