The Literacy Center rebounding, rebuilding after fire gutted Allentown office

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An Allentown nonprofit is reaching new heights despite losing its office last summer in a large fire.

The Literacy Center’s headquarters at 1132 Hamilton St. was gutted in July by flames that started in a neighboring building and “quickly spread” to several others, according to Chief Executive Officer Jen Doyle.

The organization transitioned back to virtual learning while crews work to build a “completely new space inside,” with features designed to better meet its needs, Doyle said.

Doyle is due to deliver a State of the Organization address at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13 — the first in the 48-year history of The Literacy Center.

The link for registration and also for the live virtual program is online. The program will be free.

“The entire community is welcome to attend,” she said, inviting current and former students, donors, volunteers and more to the virtual presentation.

State Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh, is expected to deliver an opening speech with “very positive announcements,” Doyle said.

Other scheduled guests are Jane Hudak and Elizabeth Hritz, chairwomen for The Literacy Center, and the Rev. James Greenfield, president of DeSales University.

Silver lining

The fire would have been “a lot more disastrous” if students and teachers weren’t forced to operate remotely when the pandemic started five years ago, Doyle told LehighValleyNews.com.

“I can't say a lot of positive things came out of COVID, except for the fact that it did push us to transition very quickly, and it allowed us to really perfect our online instruction,” she said.

“Because we are so comfortable online, we literally pivoted. We just moved those classes online the very next day.”

The Literacy Center offers some in-person classes at DeSales University and Lehigh Carbon Community College, which Doyle called "great community partners."

The Literacy Center — which teaches English to non-native speakers and offers GED and workforce-development programs — retained almost all of its students during that transition, and its “academic outcomes [are] actually improving,” according to Doyle.

She credited students and staff members for doing “a phenomenal job … to change so quickly” amid massive upheaval.

Have access to talent and skills

The Literacy Center’s reach has tripled since the turn of the decade, with the organization serving about 1,500 people each year.

“We aren't restricted by the space limitations of our classroom, so we are actually serving a lot more people,” Doyle said.

But more than 1,000 people are on a waitlist to get its services, which include English, GED and workforce-development programs.

The Literacy Center’s services are essential in Allentown, where more than half of city residents speak another language and almost a quarter over 25 do not have a high school diploma, according to Doyle.

Learning English allows many people to “take advantage of some better-paying jobs and show employers what they can do,” she said.

It also expands the pool of “talent and skills that the Lehigh Valley will have access to,” Doyle said.

“These students are a gold mine for the Lehigh Valley, in terms of untapped professional skills and talent,” she said.

The Literacy Center plans a "big fundraising push" in 2025 to move more people off the waitlist and into classes, Doyle said.