The Dollar General Literacy Foundation recently awarded Literacy Volunteers of America – Prince William, Inc. a $5,000 grant to support our ESL and Job Readiness for New Immigrants Program. This local grant is part of more than $8.6 million in grants awarded to more the 950 schools, nonprofits, and organizations across the communities Dollar General serves.

The ESL and Job Readiness for New Immigrants Program is projected to address the needs of over 350 adult learners to help improve English literacy, work-related vocabulary, and job readiness skills across Prince William County.

The LVA-PW Executive Director (Deborah Abbott) stated: “Our goal with this funding is to help at least 120 adult learners gain the skills to find a job, transition from part-time to full-time employment, or obtain a promotion or better job. This is particularly important with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as many of our adults have lost jobs or hours. Dollar General’s support will enable LVA-PW to transition our award-winning program to offer distance learning options to our adult learners in the hope of helping those who most in need navigate a path forward during these challenging times.”

LVA-PW offers tuition-free classes throughout Prince William County to help low-income adults with families to find sustainable local jobs to become financially self-sufficient. Dollar General’s support will help recruit and train 30 new tutors, support additional in-house professional development, and expand both classroom and one-on-one instruction offerings.