Stephenson retires from Lit. Coalition ... sort of
Also, Stellantis cleans up Kokomo; On My Way Pre-K has funding for families
Literacy Coalition of Howard County Director Bob Stephenson’s retirement party was held on a Saturday afternoon in April. Attended by well over 100 people, he was congratulated by fellow tutors, city administrators, teachers, politicians, and good friends.
Stephenson spent the past 23 years serving the community by helping citizens improve their ability to read and in many cases putting together lesson plans that were custom-made for individual clients, despite not having an education degree.
The following Tuesday at the Literacy Coalition’s office on South Courtland Avenue, Bob was back at it, working with an adult client who over the years had progressed from not being able to read, to trying to text his daughter on his cell phone.
So much for retirement.
“We have cut down to two days a week in the office,” Stephenson noted. “And we are down to one paid employee. At the end of March I took myself off the payroll because there wasn’t enough money.”
The Coalition still serves its 35 clients as best it can with 14 tutors who come in various days of the week. There are also groups that work together as well.
The Coalition was formed from different groups brought together by local educator Gail Almquist in 1988 and was housed at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. The group officially became a United Way Agency funded 501(c)(3) organization in 1991.
In 1993 Stephenson became a board member, and in 1999 when he retired from Delco Electronics, he started working with the group part-time, becoming director in 2000.
Through the years the Literacy Coalition has moved locations; first at St. Luke’s Methodist, then a store front on West Mulberry Street in downtown Kokomo. It is now housed in the former Heritage Credit Union, a building that was donated to the group in 2019.
With the new building, and successful fundraising events like the annual “Dancing with the Stars” gala, the Coalition felt it could expand their outreach, helping people not only learn to read but to help those looking for their GED high school equivalency test.
Then came the pandemic in 2020, and everything ground to a halt with the lockdown. That year’s Dancing with the Stars was cancelled, and face-to-face tutoring was put on hold for a while. But Stephenson and his board were not worried.
“We had handled our money well, so we had a fairly healthy reserve,” said Stephenson. “But then we lost our United Way funding.”
Since losing funding, the Coalition has existed on grants and small donations, going from being open four days a week to two, which also prompted Stephenson’s exit off the payroll.
But the group still has hope. They will be organizing a fundraising committee meeting in early May plus are looking for a volunteer executive to take Stephenson’s place. Until then, Bob Stephenson will still be there, helping clients and running this organization that has helped so many people.
“I got a call once from a woman who said the Literacy Coalition had helped her mother years ago. As a child, she kept asking her mom to help her with her homework, and the mother finally broke down and said that she couldn’t read.” Embarrassed, the mother sought out help from the Coalition, and with a tutor learned to read.
After that, “She (the mother) made a rule that nobody could go to bed until all the children had been read to for one hour,” remarked Stephenson. That mother’s children all graduated high school, and two went on to college. She credited The Literacy Coalition with their educational success.
That’s one of the reasons Stephenson stays on, “I have always enjoyed it, and it felt like an honor to do this.”
Stellantis pitches in on Earth Day
Stellantis employees from the Kokomo Engine Plant (KEP), Kokomo Transmission Plant (KTP), Indiana Transmission Plant (ITP) and Tipton Transmission Plant (TTP) collected dozens of bags of trash along the Company's adopted area on US 35 between 80W and 50E on Earth Day. The cleanup event was planned by the UAW Local 685 Recreation and Conservation Committee and coordinated with the Indiana Department of Transportation. In addition, the Company distributed more than 1,500 tree seedlings to local employees to plant at their homes.
From left to right:
Issac White (KTP); Mary Uhle, Hunter Fetterhoff, Kym Dieselberg and Bonna Vore (KEP); Amanda Stewart (TTP); Tim Merritt (KTP); Jessica Collier (TTP); Kacie Archer (ITP); Chris Kenyon (KTP); and Becky Herrell, Maverick Herrell and Chris Herrell (ITP) stand with the bags of trash they collected.
On My Way Pre-K taking apps for funding
On My Way Pre-K is currently taking applications for funding, which serves as a voucher to help families pay for preschool. It is based on family size and income, and it is for children who will be 4 by Aug. 1. Eligible families may use the funding at any program that accepts On My Way Pre-K. Currently, in Howard County there are 15 preschools that are approved to take the On My Way Pre-K funding.
The following preschools are approved for funding:
Bona Vista: 765.457.8273
Microchips: 765.455.1467
Finding Me Now: 765.453.1744
Kokomo School Corporation (Elwood Haynes, Lafayette Park, Boulevard): 765.455.8000 x10347
Sts Joan of Arc & Patrick School: 765.459.4769
Sonbeam Child Care (Greentown): 765.434.7440
YMCA Early Learning Center: 765.236.2070
Kids At The Top Learning Center: 765.457.4011
Little Rugrats Early Learning Center: 765-860-1879
Dream Makers Learning Ministry: 765-453-7898
Little Rising Stars: 765-398-0924
First Evangelical Presbyterian Little School: 765-868-2558
Kingdom Kids: 708-541-3785
Families may apply online at www.onmywayprek.org.