Former LSF Client Makes

Strides in Literacy

Tampa Staff Donates to I CAN Literacy Program

11 August 2009

By Thomas L. Weitzel

LSF Communications

Twenty-three-year-old Mateneh Teoh has been working on her English language skills since she arrived in Tampa in 2005 from her native country of Liberia.  Her native language was African Creole.  She became a client that year of Lutheran Services Florida in the Refugee Resettlement Program, and over the next four years LSF staff members carefully guided her into appropriate programs that would assist her in becoming a fully functioning and contributing member of American society.

Recently this single mother of two has been attending classes with the I CAN! adult literacy program in Tampa to improve her reading skills.  I CAN was established in 2002 as a "grassroots literacy movement" consisting of community volunteers and professionals who work with small groups of three to five individuals to maximize one-on-one training.

With I CAN's help and guidance, Mateneh has progressed in eight months from a reading level below kindergarten, which is considered pre-literate, to a second-grade reading level.

"Mateneh's accomplishment is extraordinary," said Rosemarie Connor. who is a Counselor Supervisor in LSF's Integration Assistance Services program for refugees.  "I am very proud of her accomplishment, and so is she!"

According to Connor, Mateneh's goals are to advance enough in her reading skills to be able to study for and complete her GED.  She eventually wants to go on to become a Certified Nursing Assistant, said Connor.

Early in the summer, the Tampa staff of LSF's Integration Assistance Services and Child Care Food Program made a donation to the I CAN program's "Fundraising Barbeque" to show support for their community literacy efforts in Tampa.  I CAN's website notes that 28 percent of adults age 16 and older in Tampa read below a fourth grade level.  A Certificate of Appreciation from I CAN was presented to the two division supervisors from LSF, Rosemarie Connor and Maritza Grajales.

 L  U  T  H  E  R  A  N         S  E  R  V  I  C  E  S          F  L  O  R  I  D  A