SAVE THE DATE for MLC's View of the Harbor 2009
MLC's premier fundraising event will take place on Sunday, October 4th at picturesque Country Club of Fairfield. This event usually attracts 150-200 friends and supporters of MLC. Clare Clark (Westport), Nealy Madsen and Susan Burstein (both of Fairfield) are the event's 2009 tri-chairs. The committee has begun to plan this year's cocktail party fundraiser. Sponsorships, program ads, live/silent auction items are needed to ensure the success of this special evening focused on supporting literacy!

Expose your business to the upscale Fairfield County crowd while supporting literacy! Consider sponsoring this high profile event. A variety of sponsorship and underwriting opportunities are available. For more information, click here or contact MLC's Development Director, Kathy Flynn Parisi.

Do you (or does your company) have a vacation home, sporting event tickets, or gift certificate to donate for the live or silent auction? If so, please contact MLC's Development Director, Kathy Flynn Parisi.

Take out an ad to promote your business, recognize your commitment to literacy, or to wish MLC good luck on its View of the Harbor fundraiser! Program ad forms are available here.

Woman Words: Ya-Ya's Story
My name is Ya-Ya. I was born and raised in the Bronx, and this is my story. Both of my parents were drug addicts--in and out of methadone clinics. And when they were home, they were abusive to me. So basically, I raised myself. My mother died when I was 16, and I came to Bridgeport and lived with my mother’s sister. Unfortunately, she treated me like garbage--I felt like Cinderella--always cooking and cleaning the house. I lived with her for a couple of months and then she decided to move to Florida. I had no where to live, so I went to a homeless shelter in Bridgeport. I soon found jobs doing physical labor--loading and unloading trucks and factory work. I began to live on my own, but was always worried that my job would end.

One morning I woke up full of frustration--knowing I needed to get an education if I was going to stay out of the shelter. I called Info-line and asked about adult education services. Mercy Learning Center was the first number they gave me. So I called. And that was the beginning of how my life changed.

I made an appointment, went to the Center to register and get tested, and started in the GED class. I was on my way to success. At Mercy Learning Center, I saw that we were all just women with the same dreams of becoming something more. More than what society told us we could be. My mother told me that I was never going to succeed or be anything. I wanted to prove her wrong.

I had the fortune of discovering Mercy Learning Center when my life was at its lowest, and like so many others whose lives had been tainted by mishaps and failures, I entered the doors and was welcomed into a new family--a cluster of strong, intelligent, kind-hearted women who offered me the opportunity to reach my goals. Within one year, I got my GED and I am going to start college soon. I am proud of myself, what I have become, and what I will be.

NOVEMBER 2008: Channel 12's Hometown Hero: Mercy Learning Center's Tammy Barry
Westporter Tammy Barry spends three afternoons each week at Mercy Learning Center teaching mothers how to read to their children. With a professional background in special education, she dedicates herself to the Mother/Toddler Pre-Literacy and School Readiness Program, which is part of Mercy Learning Center's educational childcare program. So, while women are participating in the Center's adult literacy and life skills classes, their preschool-aged children are being educated as well. In the city of Bridgeport, where one in three children enter kindergarten without preschool experience, the time Ms. Barry spends with these young families may set the stage for future success in school.

Each week, Ms. Barry conducts three classes - each tailored to a specific preschool age group. Ms. Barry bases each parent/child session around a thematic unit that mirrors the weekly childcare classroom curriculum. She spreads out a large blanket on the floor of the Center's library, invites mothers and children to join her while she reads a story as the mothers read along with her. She models for these women how to interact with their children and make every experience an opportunity to learn. Activities that can be paralleled at home take place, and then the mother and child are encouraged to find a quiet place in the library to read the story together. At the conclusion of each class, the children are given a copy of the book they read that day to take home and re-read together at bedtime. All of the books are donated through grants by local organizations and personal donations, many of whom are friends of Ms. Barry.

Ms. Barry, a mother of three and private special education consultant has a passion for educating the underserved. Knowing that a mother has the greatest influence on the success of her children in school, she finds time amid her busy family life and work schedule to come to Mercy Learning Center and teach women how to read with their children. Through this program, many young mothers break the intergenerational cycle of illiteracy and together mothers and their children develop a lifelong bond and love of reading.

OCTOBER 2008: Family Fun Day
With games, a magician, food, and prizes, more than 300 students and friends of Mercy Learning Center gathered under sunny skies on Saturday, October 4h, for its annual Family Fun Day sponsored and organized by Shelton-based MDR, a D&B Company. This family-centered event was attended by the women enrolled at Mercy Learning Center and their families, and took place in the backyard of the Center. Mothers, fathers, children, tutors, and friends of Mercy Learning Center enjoyed the Family Fun Day, which included games and activities, a visit from "B.B.," the Bluefish mascot, a magician, and a photo with Winnie-the-Pooh.

The Center is currently in its 22nd year of providing a positive impact on this urban community. "Our Family Fun Day is a way for our students to build community and involve their families. We are grateful to MDR for sponsoring this special celebration again this year. They do a remarkable job," remarked Mercy Learning Center's President and CEO Jane Ferreira.

As the leading U.S. provider of marketing information and services for the education industry, MDR supported Mercy Learning Center by underwriting the event and executing the activities with the assistance of more than 20 of their employees who helped at the event plus many more who contributed baked goods. With the encouragement of MDR President Fady Khairallah, the company engages in community events and service programs that allow its employees to take an active role in promoting education. Mercy Learning Center's Family Fun Day provided a perfect opportunity for MDR staff to get involved in an event that focuses on building a community to enhance their literacy programs." Under the direction of MDR's Product Specialist Marianne Roggemann of Shelton, a plentiful team of corporate volunteers and student volunteers from St. Joseph's High School in Trumbull commandeered this event.

Click here to see the Family Fun Day 2008 photo gallery.

OCTOBER 2008: A View of the Harbor
With a spectacular view of Southport's harbor and Long Island Sound, nearly 200 supporters gathered at the Country Club of Fairfield for "A View of the Harbor" fundraiser to benefit Mercy Learning Center of Bridgeport on Sunday, October 5th. This annual event introduces new friends to the mission of Mercy Learning Center and its women's literacy programs, which impact the lives of more than 500 women and 100 children each year. This elegant cocktail party featured a welcome by the Center's Board Chair Beth Davis, a presentation on Mercy Learning Center by President and CEO Jane Ferreira, a touching testimonial from GED graduate Yamalie, a brief video, and magnificent live and silent auctions that offered a variety of unique opportunities, sporting event tickets and memorabilia, gift certificates, and treasures as well as student sponsorship opportunities. Local radio and television personality David Smith was the guest auctioneer for the evening.

Click here to see A View of the Harbor 2008 photo gallery.

SEPTEMBER 2008: International Literacy Day
To bring to the forefront the need for literacy education in our community, Mercy Learning Center hosted an open house in observance of International Literacy Day on Monday, September 8th. In countries throughout the world, this day of awareness marks the need for literacy training and the eradication of illiteracy globally and locally. International Literacy Day was first observed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on September 8, 1967. The 2008 theme was, "Literacy Is the Remedy" for building healthy communities. In addition to a light lunch and refreshments, a brief program included a welcome by Mercy Learning Center's President and CEO Jane Ferreira, a student testimonial, and a presentation by ProLiteracy Worldwide representative Mark Cass. Guest readers who included Gabrielle Guise and Georgina Platt of the Near and Far Aid Association, Robert Scinto of R.D. Scinto, Inc. in Shelton, and naturopathic physician Sherry Stemper, ND of Bridgeport participated in International Literacy Day with special presentations for the students at the Center.

Click here to see the International Literacy Day 2008 photo gallery.