ALLENTOWN,PA — On Monday, July 8, 2024, a large fire blazed through the heart of Allentown, displacing dozens of residents, injuring at least six firefighters, and severely damaging multiple buildings. Photos online from the disaster capture scenes of chaos.

Against the backdrop of the ever-familiar Hamilton Street, these pictures show flames billowing from the upper windows of brick row houses, thick clouds of smoke blackening the sky, and swarms of firefighters hoisting massive hoses.

The fire severely impacted The Literacy Center, a nonprofit organization based in Allentown.

Born in 1977, The Literacy Center has provided Lehigh Valley residents with no-cost educational programs for over forty years.

The Literacy Center was founded by a small group of residents in Allentown who, noticing the consequences of illiteracy on adults in the area, came together to work towards a solution.

The Literacy Center began humbly, setting up headquarters in a small donated space and making do with a limited sum of seed monies.

However, despite a relatively unassuming start, The Literacy Center has become an indispensable resource for many in the Lehigh Valley experiencing language, education, and employment barriers.

Since its inception, The Literacy Center has expanded exponentially, evolving from a small cohort of teachers and volunteers into a registered nonprofit that ranks as the #1 literacy program in Pennsylvania.

In addition to offering high-quality ESL and GED courses, The Literacy Center has developed an impressive nexus of resources and support services that are accessible to anybody for no cost.

This includes but is not limited to, counseling services for adult students applying to college, tutoring, digital literacy courses, and U.S. citizenship preparation study groups.

Moreover, The Literacy Center connects its students to important community resources, such as local food banks, organizations that donate professional clothing, and more.

This growth has enabled The Literacy Program to make a massive impact in the Lehigh Valley. According to its website, the Program has provided free adult education to more than 40,000 people in the Lehigh Valley.

The cause of the July 8 fire is still unknown. During an interview with Lehigh Daily, Jennifer Doyle, CEO of The Literacy Center, explained that an employee had noticed flames through the window and quickly notified the rest of the staff.

While everybody inside the building exited safely, the fire significantly damaged The Literacy Center’s classrooms, computer lab, and office.

When asked about the reconstruction process, Doyle said that the rebuilding process has yet to start but is estimated to be extensive.

“They are currently removing the carpeting, opening the walls, and removing all the furniture and equipment due to all the smoke and water damage. It will take about a year to rebuild the space.”

In the meantime, The Literacy Center has successfully moved all in-person classes to online and has remained operating at 100% capacity.

Doyle praised the resiliency of The Literacy Center, whose exceptional staff and students have made this difficult transition possible.

She noted that this is simply another roadblock for The Literacy Center, a footnote in its long history of empowering Lehigh Valley locals.

She observed that The Literacy Center faced a similarly challenging situation when, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced all classes and services online.

In a testament to striking adaptability, The Literacy Center retained 95% of students, maintained incredible student outcomes, and increased the number of adults served annually from 500 to 1,500.

“The Literacy Center is not unfamiliar with challenging situations,” she stated, “The Literacy Center is a resilient organization with an incredible team of board members, staff, volunteers, and community partners who are regularly inspired by our amazing, highly motivated students.

Our summer virtual classes for ESL, GED, and Digital Literacy are running as scheduled, and our in-person classes have been moved online. Our team continues to assist students with Support Services, College Access, and Career Counseling.”

Doyle described community support so far as amazing.

“We have received several calls and emails from individuals and organizations asking how they can help.

Although we remain fully operational, there could be additional costs transitioning to a temporary workspace [and] we welcome support during this challenging time.”

As one of the few places in the Lehigh Valley offering free English courses, the Literacy Center has been overwhelmed by demand since before the fire.

Students applying for ESL classes must wait several months before enrolling, as the waitlist currently stands at about 1,400 people. There is a widespread need for The Literacy Center’s classes and services.

Considering the general scarcity of these sorts of programs– that is, high-quality, budget-friendly programs that serve majority nonwhite, female, and immigrant students– it is not surprising that demand for services is far exceeding The Literacy Center’s capacity.

Organizations like The Literacy Center that proactively address the needs of marginalized and immigrant communities are hugely lacking in the Lehigh Valley and the U.S. as a whole for innumerable reasons, including funding discrepancies, complex bureaucratic regulations, political opposition, blatant discrimination, and more.

This means that mobilizing support to enable the continued success of The Literacy Center is hugely important, not just now in the wake of the fire, but in general.

Bolstering The Literacy Center through continued support would be a massive step in working towards slowly eroding the behemoth of systemic obstacles that impede the well-being of many Lehigh Valley residents.

The Literacy Center’s unwavering dedication to making the Lehigh Valley a more equitable space for all serves as a powerful reminder of our collective responsibility to challenge entrenched disparities.

Together, we can forge a better future where opportunity and justice are accessible to everybody!

For more information, see https://theliteracycenter-lv.org/. 

To donate, check out https://theliteracycenter-lv.org/donate/.