Literacy Together

🎉 40 years of changing lives through literacy!

This month, we celebrated Literacy Together’s 40th birthday with more than 50 volunteers, students, and their friends and family at West Asheville Park. What a joyful way to honor four decades of learning, connection, and community!

A heartfelt THANK YOU to our incredible volunteers who generously share their time, wisdom, and heart to help others reach their goals. And thank you to our students, whose dedication, perseverance, and commitment inspire us every day. Your hard work doesn’t just change your own life, it strengthens our entire community.

Here’s to 40 years of literacy, opportunity, and lives transformed and to many more to come! 💙📚

Meet one of our longest-running tutor-student pairs. William and Irene’s mutual respect and love of learning have kept them learning together for 9 years! 🎉

A decade ago, William, who worked as a pipe fitter and technician for the gas company, says, “I didn’t know about phonics. I didn’t know the spelling rules. I could fix anything with my hands, but I couldn’t read well. Now I understand syllables and how words are made. It’s helped my reading, and it’s helped my confidence.”

Now retired, William still carves out time each week for the lessons he says feed his soul and his curiosity. Improving his reading and vocabulary has opened up new horizons and helped him cultivate connections in the community, including his friendship with Irene. ❤️

The 17th Annual Authors for Literacy Fundraiser was a huge hit!

Thank you to our Presenting Sponsor, Pisgah Investments Foundation and all of our 2026 Corporate Sponsors for supporting our mission! Your leadership in the community is an inspiration!

We are thrilled to share this video from our event partner KinoLore Productions– take a look and see if you recognize any familiar faces! 😉

We are so grateful to New York Times bestselling author Margot Lee Shetterly, the event keynote – it was a joy to hear from you!

We were also honored to hear from one of our Adult Literacy students, Eléazar, who shared his journey to earn his GED with support from Literacy Together tutors.

Thank you to the 420+ people who filled the room! Because of everyone's support, along with an extraordinary group of individuals who provided a $40,000 matching gift, we raised an incredible $110,000 in donations from individuals in the room that evening to support the free, life-changing educational programs we offer within Buncombe County! ❤️

Highlights from the 2026 Authors for Literacy Fundraiser, featuring Margot Lee Shetterly Highlights from the 2026 Authors for Literacy Fundraiser, featuring New York Times best-selling author, Margot Lee Shetterly. Based in Asheville, NC, Literac...

✨Every voice matters ✨

That’s the message members from our board are sharing as they prepare for the launch of our Student Advisory Council this summer!

With invaluable support from The Industrial Commons, this new opportunity puts students in direct conversation with leadership and creates a pipeline for future board service.

The Student Advisory Council will meet for a year with our board, sharing their experiences in our programs and the obstacles that people face when working toward literacy goals. We are building a program that supports students seeking to deepen their impact as literacy ambassadors in Buncombe County.

Literacy Together's mission is to transform lives and communities through literacy, and we are so excited about this opportunity. Thank you to The Industrial Commons and to our student applicants! We can't wait to get started. ❤️

We bid farewell to our Outreach and Communications Coordinator, Anne, as she embraces the next phase of her life ... which will involve spending much more time with her adorable granddaughter! 😍

Anne has grown our storytelling in leaps and bounds and has done an outstanding job recruiting more volunteers. We are so grateful for the impact she's leaving behind from her time in this role! Anne will continue to support Literacy Together as a volunteer with more student stories for our blog.

The Outreach & Communications Coordinator contributes to our communication strategy and community engagement through increasing visibility, strengthening community relationships, and supporting programmatic and organizational goals.

We are seeking an organized, community-minded storyteller to join our team. This position will ensure impactful communication across digital and print platforms and inspire diverse audiences through public speaking, volunteer engagement, and powerful student and tutor testimonials.

This is a part-time position requiring 15-20 hours per week. Please review the job description for more information and details on how to apply.

We are excited to find the right person to help sustain and grow our community presence and external communications. Thank you for sharing the opportunity!

https://lit-together.org/job-openings/

We love supporting all of the great events happening in our community. Here is ESOL Program Director Erin Sebelius and students enjoyed an evening of Latin music and Salsa dancing at Asheville's Downtown After 5.

Did you know ESOL is the largest program at Literacy Together, serving approximately 250 students annually? If you’re interested in learning about our ESOL program, or want to learn how to volunteer with our program, visit the link below.

https://lit-together.org/programs/esol/

Curious about volunteering with us? Our next volunteer orientations are just around the corner!

Come learn more about what we do, meet our team, and find the perfect fit for you.

https://lit-together.org/volunteer-roles-literacy-together/become-a-volunteer/

Calvin teaches our group ESOL class at Bounty & Soul in Swannanoa. This month he asked students to draw a map of downtown streets and label the buildings. Students then worked together to ask for and give directions from one location to the next.

Many of our tutors find that supplementing the curriculum with real-life texts and tasks really motivates students because they can use their new skills to navigate real-life situations and challenges!

Are you curious about becoming a tutor? Sign up for our next informational meeting on June 9th at 6pm or June 11th at 10am. Find out more and register here:

https://lit-together.org/volunteer-roles-literacy-together/become-a-volunteer/

⭐️Student Spotlight⭐️

Four years ago, Cristhian stepped off a plane in the mountains of western North Carolina and into a new life. Since then, he’s run hundreds of miles in the mornings before work at Pisgah Legal Services, where he helps Spanish-speaking clients seeking pro bono legal services.

Each week after work, he heads to Literacy Together to meet with his tutor MaryPaul to work on his English pronunciation, writing, and preparation for the U.S. Naturalization Exam.
All that hard work is paying off.

Cristhian recently completed his first marathon and he’s applying to graduate school in social work, hoping to advance his career as a bilingual professional helping others overcome the challenges before them.