Literacy group finds new home after 40 years
Tuesday open house to introduce public to office on Russell Sage campus
TROY, N.Y. >> After spending more than 40 years inside the First United Presbyterian Church on 5th Avenue in downtown Troy, the Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County recently moved into new offices just a few blocks away, on the Russell Sage College campus.
Executive Director Judith Smith said the organization moved to the third floor of 71 1st St. for several reasons.
“Our old location was not really handicap-accessible for people to get up to the third floor,” explained Smith. “Another reason that really had us starting to look [for a new location] was we had heard that the property management at the church was looking at selling the building. Actually, the day that we came here to officially say, ‘Yes, we’ll take space’, we got the email that said they had contracted with a realtor to put the building on the market.”
Although Smith admitted the new office is actually a little smaller than their longtime home, the organization is still excited to be in a location that includes three offices, a resource library and conference rooms.
“As a small nonprofit, it’s not like you can move into anywhere, in terms of money,” said Smith. Officials with the organiza-
tion are also excited about another opportunity that comes with the new location.
“There’s a class called Women Changing the World that’s required at Sage for all their students, and we’ve been partnering for years with Sage,” said Smith. “Presently, we’ve been working with one of their professors, Sara Schuman, and part of her class [requirements] is that they have to do community service, so they can do all kinds of things to help us.”
The organization puts on events throughout the year to raise money to fulfill its mission of teaching people to read, write and speak English, along with educating the public about literacy issues. The organization serves more than 200 people each year with the help of more than 200 volunteers.
The group will host an open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday inside their new office, with guests then invited to attend a free Author’s Night event at 6:30 p.m. in Bush Memorial Hall on the Russell Sage campus, featuring Frankie Y. Bailey, who has penned five mystery novels.
“The evening is really a celebration of the work done all year by our students and tutors,” explained Smith. “True stories by our adult literacy students and tutors will be shared. You will be able to experience firsthand accounts of how literacy changes lives.”
For more information on the group or its open house, call 518-274-8526 or visit www.lvorc.org.