Oakland Literacy Council

🌍📚 June is National Immigrant Heritage Month!

At Oakland Literacy Council, we are proud to support ESL learners from around the world who bring unique stories, experiences, languages, and cultures to our community every day. Their dedication to learning English, building confidence, and creating new opportunities inspires us all.

This month, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and contributions of immigrants — and the power of literacy to help every individual feel connected, empowered, and heard. 💙

📚 How One Son Honors His Mother’s Legacy of Literacy

For Gary Davis of Pontiac, volunteering with Bookstock is more than community service — it’s a way to honor his mother’s lifelong dedication to literacy. Gary’s mother, Gladys “Gaby” Davis, spent her career helping others learn to read, first as an elementary school teacher in Pontiac and later as an adult literacy tutor with Oakland Literacy Council.

As Sue Klunk, former OLC staff member and current board vice-chair, shared, “It’s truly inspiring to see the non-stop dedication by everyone involved, including Gary.”

Read the full story on our website here: https://zurl.co/QpPKX

📚✨ Building Confidence, One Equation at a Time!

Eight Oakland Literacy Council learners recently completed a four-week GED Math Bootcamp designed to tackle one of the toughest parts of the GED exam. The bootcamp not only strengthened math skills but also created a supportive learning community that helped learners stay motivated and move closer to their goals. We are grateful to Kirk in the Hills Church for making the bootcamp possible.

👉 Read the full story: https://zurl.co/C1n0u

🎓✨ Celebrating Our Graduates! ✨🎓

Join us in congratulating Oakland Literacy Council learners who have reached an important milestone and graduated from our program: Hamid Shahraki, Iris Martinez, and Jose Talavera ⭐

Graduation at OLC represents significant achievement—whether a learner has gained English language proficiency, reached a 9th-grade level in reading or math, or earned their high school equivalency diploma (GED). These accomplishments reflect countless hours of hard work, perseverance, and dedication.

We look forward to recognizing these graduates and celebrating their success at our Student Recognition Ceremony on July 16. Congratulations to our graduates—we are so proud of all you have achieved! 🎉📚

🎳📚 Strike Up Support for Literacy! 📚🎳

Gather your friends, family, or coworkers and join us for an evening of bowling, fun, prizes, and community impact!

📅 Saturday, June 13, 2026
⏰ 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
📍 Wonderland Lanes, Commerce, MI

For $120, your lane reservation includes:
🎳 Up to 4 bowlers
👟 Shoe rental
⏱️ 3 hours of bowling
🥤 Unlimited pop

Reserve your lane here: https://zurl.co/VEgIn
All proceeds help support adult literacy programs in your community.

We can't wait to see you there for a night of strikes, spares, and supporting literacy! 💙📖

We enjoyed sharing Oakland Literacy Council's mission and connecting with other nonprofits this week. A special thank you to the Pontiac Funders Collaborative of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan for sponsoring these monthly opportunities to foster coordination among the organizations serving Pontiac and surrounding cities.

We are incredibly grateful to the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for awarding Oakland Literacy Council a generous $10,000 grant to support our adult literacy programming in the year ahead! 🎉📚

This funding will help adults in our community build foundational reading and math skills, learn the English language, and work toward earning their high school equivalency. Together, we are Starting a Learner's Tomorrow---Today! 💙

📖✨

We’re grateful for the opportunity to share our mission at this event!

Join the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and the Pontiac Funders Collaborative on Tuesday, May 19 from 9-11 a.m. for our monthly Nonprofit Networking series. This is an informal gathering where nonprofit leaders, staff and volunteers can meet and learn from each other.

This month’s featured nonprofits include CARE House of Oakland County and Oakland Literacy Council.

The event will take place at Care House (44765 Woodward Ave. in Pontiac).

A light breakfast and coffee will be served. Admission to the networking event is free, but space is limited. We encourage early registration.Visit the link in our bio to register. We can’t wait to see you there!

For more information contact Erin Marie McDonald ([email protected])

👏A special thank you for our bank volunteers!

For the 4th year in a row, we’re grateful for the dedicated team from Comerica Bank, a division of Fifth Third Bank, for supporting Oakland Literacy Council through our Bookstock volunteer efforts.

Yesterday afternoon, 19 volunteers came together to pack leftover Bookstock books, which will be sent to Better World Books to help promote literacy around the world. 🌍📖

With 55+ volunteer hours, this team is directly helping raise funds to support adult literacy programs right here in our community like Oakland Literacy Council.

A special thank you to Alicia Stephens and Uretha Edwards for leading this effort all four years — your commitment and leadership make a lasting impact! 🙌

We truly appreciate your partnership. 💙

📚 Thank You, Volunteers! 📚💙

We are so grateful to everyone who volunteered during Bookstock’s sale this past week — including our amazing tutors, learners, board members, friends, partners, and community supporters including the Pontiac chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity! 🙌

Because of you, the sale ran smoothly and successfully — and raised important funds to support educational programs like those at Oakland Literacy Council. ✨📖

A very special shout out to board member Sue Klunk for her outstanding leadership in coordinating volunteers and making sure everyone felt valued and appreciated. Your dedication made all the difference! 🌟

It truly takes a community — and we couldn’t do this work without you. 💙