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Consuela Sullivan says Reading Connections changed everything in her life — “even my knitting.”

Before going to her Monday night MotherRead class at Hunter Elementary, where adults read and discuss books, Sullivan figured out knitting patterns by looking at the pictures and counting the stitches.

“Now I read patterns, and you would not believe what I can knit because I can read those patterns.”

Sullivan outlined other changes in her life as a result of her weekly MotherRead sessions.

“I am more outgoing. I use to be sort of a Grinch,” she said. “I stayed to myself. Now I volunteer at a nursing home, and I knit booties and blankets for preemies at Women’s Hospital. I read to my children, my grandchildren and even to the neighborhood children.”

She said even her health and the health of her family has improved.
“I started to read the magazines in the doctor’s office and now get a subscription to Parenting Magazine. Did you know that too many carbohydrates hurts your heart?” Sullivan, with 10 children between the ages of 18 months and 24 years, said being with other mothers on Mondays and reading and discussing books has blessed her life.

Sullivan embodies the mission of Reading Connections: “To provide and advocate for free, individualized adult literacy services to promote life changes for Guilford County residents and surrounding communities.”

For the past 20 years, this local nonprofit has served thousands of Guilford County adults between the ages of 18 and 70 who want to improve literacy skills.

Adults come to Reading Connections with some trepidation and end up making lasting changes in their lives.

Literacy is a powerful way to make a lasting impact on our community. Adults who can read can more fully participate in the life of our community.

Because of Sullivan’s efforts, Hunter Elementary has a book exchange. The idea started when Sullivan picked up some boxes of books from someone who was going to throw them away. She contacted the social worker at Hunter, and the exchange was born.

“The greatest gift you can give a child is a book,” Sullivan said.
She said the mothers she meets with and reads with on Monday nights have become her close friends.

“Even though we are different — with several of us speaking different languages — we are all actually the same underneath,” she said.

They all want the best for their children and they all enjoy books.
Reading Connections outlines a bold goal: If every person in Guilford County gave just $5, the organization would have more than $2 million to fight low literacy in our community. The goal is to raise $50,000 by May 5. Five dollars will buy a workbook for a student working toward a GED or pay for copies of worksheets for an entire class.

Sullivan reads “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch each night to her son. The book begins: “A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang: 'I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.’ ”

Sullivan says that Reading Connections has been “outstanding” for her and her family and needs to be in every school in the county. She said her life was good before, but now it is “extraordinary” — a word she learned to read from the book “Lost in the City.”

Ruth D. Anderson is executive director of The Servant Leadership School of Greensboro and chairwoman of programming for the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium.