Anna, a single mother of two young children, was unemployed when she came to Project Read in June of 2014, and living well below the poverty level. She was also in the throes of a messy divorce and struggling to understand all the legal documents. She knew that improving her literacy skills would empower her to finalize the divorce, as well as find a job to support her young family and regain her independence.

Over the next ten months, Anna worked with an individual tutor, in addition to attending weekly literacy and writing labs, during which time her reading and language skills both improved over two grade levels. She graduated from Project Read in April of 2015.

Anna greatly enjoyed making friends at Project Read. “I love the one-on-one student-tutor interaction,” she said. She believes it is what made the most difference in improving her reading and writing skills.

Anna is an entrepreneur with big goals and high hopes for the future, and her improved literacy skills have taken her to the next level. She was able to get a job to support her young family, and recently launched her own nonprofit. Anna also plans to continue studying and hopes to be accepted at Brigham Young University.

In addition, Anna is now able to help her children with schoolwork, as well as read and respond to notes from their teachers. “My kids think I know everything!” she said. Truly, Project Read empowers individuals to meet their goals and succeed.