'Learn to Read' Closes Its Doors

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After 40 years of serving the First Coast, 'Learn to Read,' a non-profit adult literacy agency, closed its doors.

Douglas Smith is a 'Learn to Read' student and has been since 2006. "When they tested me, they said I was reading at the second grade level, it was terrible," said Smith.

Smith is also a student ambassador on the agency's board of directors. "You had a place where people would volunteer to help others,people with a special gift," added Smith.

Smith, now 68, has managed to succeed in life as a functional illiterate. The son of a South Carolina sharecropper, he moved to New York City and worked his way up in the bakery business to where he owned a bakery.

"You have to fake it when you can't do," said Smith.

After three years in the program, Smith said he has not only improved his reading skills, but he now applies the newly learned skill to his life.

"It has not only improved my reading, but my understanding," he said.

Attorney Moses Meide is past president and a current member of 'Learn To Read' Board of Directors, he said,"We were not getting the funding from the city and United way we got in the past."

He said even the sponsors and the grants dried up, so they had no choice but to close the doors.

"It is tight. The money is tight in this community," said Meide.     

It was a difficult decision, he said, knowing that students like Douglas Smith still need the help.

Meide said they plan to keep the non profit status active for the next year, in hopes that they will get their funding restored. 

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