In South Carolina, 22% of adults lack basic reading and writing skills, more than 40,000 lack a high school diploma and 20,000 are not fluent in English. Achieving Greenville Literacy Association’s vision of “a community transformed through education where all adults can grow and thrive” will be no small task.
The nonprofit, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2025, is furthering its mission of increasing the literacy and employability of adult learners with renewed purpose, thanks to a $10,000 capacity building grant from the Community Foundation of Greenville.
“The grant allowed us to develop a strategic plan with the board through 2027,” said Victoria Novak, GLA’s executive director since May 2023. “We feel so good, and confident in our ability to create opportunities for adults to learn, earn their GED, take English as a second language classes, and work with college and career counselors to help them become self-sufficient.”
In addition to the strategic plan, which included updating GLA’s mission and value statements, the grant covered professional development and executive coaching.
“If my team is not equipped with career-readiness skills, we’re no good to those whom we serve,” Novak said. “The culture of lifelong learning starts with our team. If that’s our culture, that’s what we’re going to give our students. If my team is taken care of, they will create a better environment for the people we serve.”
One student who has benefited from that environment is Madina Habibi, 21. The eldest of eight siblings, Habibi came with her family to the United States in 2021 from Afghanistan, where her father worked for the U.S. government. She took ESL and GED classes for two years at the Greenville Literacy Association before enrolling in the dental hygiene program at Greenville Technical College to fulfill a desire to help people.
“Every time when I come to GLA, I feel like I am very special,” she said. “They always help me with everything.”
Habibi recently spoke to the GLA board about her experience, learning to believe in herself and her hopes for the future.
“Now in my country girls graduate from school in sixth grade. Why? Because they think they are just a girl and they have to be at home,” she said. “We don’t have any women doctors; we don’t have teachers. So that is why I tried; got my GED and started college.”
Novak said helping adults of different ages and backgrounds create their own educational paths to an improved quality of life allows her to live her purpose. She expressed gratitude for the support GLA receives from CFG and the Greenville community.
“I get choked up when I think about GLA’s history from 1965, when people in the mills weren’t able to read,” Novak said. “That work doesn’t happen without people willing to say yes. I feel fortunate that I get to be the one to lead us as we set the tone for the next 60 years.”
Visit cfgreenville.org to learn more about the Community Foundation of Greenville.
