ORANGE PARK – Language is one of the toughest barriers one can overcome, and it effects a wide range of people. At the Clay County Literacy Coalition, those barriers are being broken every day.

In recent years the CCLC has undergone changes in leadership, funding, and location. This hidden treasure now sits adjacent to Orange Park High School.

The non-profit provides language tutoring and literacy programs for adults in need. Students come from varied life circumstances ranging from immigrants escaping poverty to English speaking adults who want to improve their reading and writing skills.

“You just learn so much about where they came from, how bad their country was, their goal to get here, and how what they went through to get here,” said Lynette Shaw, CCLC tutoring coordinator.

Thanks to partnerships, the CCLC is able to continue to grow its important programs. One of those partners is sharing an office building with them at the Clay County Adult Community Education center.

On June 14, the Clay County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony inside the CCLC classroom. The classroom has already been the site of life changing tutoring for months, but the ceremony was symbolic of the new beginning the organization has planned.

“It’s like we’re all starting over,” said Darling Stokes, CCLC President. “Even though we’ve been working hard since November, this ribbon cutting means that we are down the track and you can hear the whistle blow.”

In the coming months, the CCLC is hoping to expand its education services beyond reading and speaking classes, but also cover other literacy areas including computer literacy, health literacy, and financial literacy.

It’s been reported that one of the largest hurdles for non-English speaking people in the United States is the use of computers to take exams or undergo workforce training. Since, some county auxiliaries already offer programs dealing with those above issues, Stokes is hoping to build more partnerships out of the shared causes.

Stokes also wants to take CCLC services into Clay County schools. Being a former guidance counselor, Stokes found a need for people to help non-English speaking parents with their children’s educational needs, like interrupting important documents. This program could empower parents to have a more hands on role in their child’s education.

Also, some new citizens arrive in the United States with job skills and degrees, but often find their education useless without English literacy to go along with it.

“We’re looking at promotion, are they in the job they trained for in the other country, or are they just taking a job,” Stokes said. “Some people are very bright, but they can get the certifications and things that they need to get a job.”

These expansion plans are made possible by support from community partners. In addition to the chamber, other organizations are taking notice of their work.

On Tuesday, the Rotary Club of Orange Park awarded the CCLC with a check for $1,800. They accomplished this by selling copies of the “All Star Rotary Recipe Cook book”. The check will go towards funding many of the new programs in development.

Even with financial help, the CCLC is still actively searching for volunteers to help with tutoring and operations. Currently English conversation classes take place Wednesday morning at St. Catherine’s Catholic Church and bi-weekly on Thursday evening at the Orange Park Branch Library.

“There’s nothing like working with people, helping them reach their goals, learning about them, and learning about us” said Stokes. “Our adults choose to be here, this is what they want to do, and therefore this is what we want to do.”