How Running Can Save the World
Pt. 2 - Literature for Life
It was a miserable, rainy morning in the grungy former factory area of downtown Toronto when I made amy way up the stairs to Literature for Life. I was there to see how some of the money raised by runners across Canada for the Give Girls A Chance charity was being used.
It was great! You should have been there!You'd have met Jo Altilia, 2004 Woman of Distinction Award winner, the dynamic and fiercely dedicated founder/director of Literature for Life. The office is a long narrow jumble of books, pictures and computers flanked by billboards with photos of smiling happy little kids. Their moms, young, single, from difficult backgrounds, are here at L4L to learn to read... not ABC's, but adult fiction that they discuss in book club meetings. They read tough, challenging books like The Handmaid's Tale, Life of Pi and Women Who Run with the Wolves. Group discussions lead them to explore their feelings about relationships, responsibilities and possibilities. I could see the wheels turning as they questioned why a character did something, what other actions could have, or should have, been taken, Jo Altilia is palpably proud of them. "These are girls who dropped out of school because of pregnancy, who've never read for pleasure and who now, through discussing a novel, develop skills, learn about relationships: mother and child, sexual, work. Through their poetry, and yes they write poetry, they develop literacy and the self-esteem to pursue their goals. They are amazing!"
Amazing...and thrilled with what they are achieving. Here's Andrea Vreisen, mother of a three year old, her face bright with joy and delight: "I never really read a book before here, though I got close to it once, in grade 5. When I finished it, I held it between my two hands, turning it over and over. Looking at it! Saying out loud, to myself, I read the whole book. The whole book!"
Andrea came to L4L, as do most of the girls, after being at Jessie's, a support home for teenage mothers and their babies, also funded by Give Girls A Chance. She's earned a job at L4L, doing graphic design, writing and formatting Yo'MaMa, their magazine, written "by young mothers, for young mothers." She writes fine poetry! Literature for Life, she says, "helps me be the person I want to be and the rold model I want to be for my daughter."
There are so many success stories! Lindsay Kretschner, 21, mother of two little girls, ages three and six, winner of YWCA's Young Women of Distinction Award. Three years ago, Lindsay showed up at Literature for Life, lured by the promise of a free book. "I was withdrawn, quiet, slightly hostile, struggling, angry. After several months in the book group, I finally began crawling out of my shell...and sharing my writing. My knowledge and confidence soared!" her self-assurance and competence has got her two paying jobs (one at L4L). Plus, she's a mom., makes time to do volunteer work and often speaks at high schools about the realities of pregnancy and parenting. Her goal: to get a degree in social work or psychology.
Sadly, space limits mean I can't share all the other inspiring young women's stories. But this can't go unsung: THE GIRLS ARE ASPIRING RUNNERS! They hope, intend, to run with Jo Altilia and L4L board member Noelle Richardson, both Jean's Marines, in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., next October. Why?
Says Andrea, "Part of being my own person includes my health and the energy that comes from it, so I'll tackle running. Also I see running as free transportation!"
Lindsay adds,"This is a cause worth running for. I'm preparing: Nikes on foot, kid in one arm, books in the other, running for the bus that takes me to Literature for Life's Centre of Possibilities."
Ther group (JeansMarines) have raised over $150,000 for Give Girls A Chance. To make GGAC your marathon charity, go to www.givegirlsachance.org and donate.
- Maxine Crook, GGAC Board Member
-first published in May/June '03 issue of Running Room magazine