Laura Seaholm, a Clayton resident and retiree from Bank of America, now has a job she loves that directly affects the people she helps – teaching adults to read as program manager for Project Second Chance.

“It is like having a literacy bug,” she says of her work. She is now in her third year and eager to show off the center at the rear of the Pleasant Hill Community Library. “We are a part of the library,” she notes, “and a safe place for people to come.”

Funding comes from the state, in the midst of its own budget crisis, individual donations and fund-raisers – such as the “Bookies” party in March at the Lafayette Park Hotel and Saturday’s “Day at the Races,” sponsored by and held at the Concord Hilton.

The group also has the support of local notables, such as county Supervisor Susan Bonilla. She recently launched the Contra Costa Literacy Coalition, designed to bring together support for all the local literacy organizations.

“We have adults that are reading at a less than sixth-grade level,” Laura adds. “And we need tutors. It is a very rewarding experience.”

Spanning a generation, Ike Eikanger, 70, and Jason Conant, 38, are both clients of Project Second Chance.

“I was 54 years old and I worked at the Concord Naval Weapons Station for 30 years, and I wanted to upgrade my job but couldn’t read the job application,” Ike recalls.

At first, he was “too scared” to make the call to Project Second Chance after a friend told him about the group. “A lot of people don’t get help,” Ike says.

When he did call, he spoke with Ted, a tutor who was working at the center and agreed to meet Ike at a restaurant. “He put me at ease,” Ike reports.

Helen Beyer is now Ike’s tutor. Laura calls her “a 1,000-hour volunteer” because of the time she has put in since 1985. Helen, also a former Bank of America employee who took an early retirement, started when PSC began. She had heard an ad on the radio and told herself: “I can do that.”

“We train everyone,” Laura says. “Ninety-nine percent of our tutors do not have teaching experience. We set goals with each of our students and modify them every six months.

“We use the Wilson Reading System,” she adds. “It uses visual, auditory and tactile exercises.”

When Helen first volunteered, she was nervous. “I even canceled a couple of times – I made myself sick.”

“I was nervous, too,” Laura notes. “It’s a huge responsibility. You ask yourself whether you will do anything to scar the people coming.”

Ike laughs, considering the similarity of both vantage points. “The tutors learn right alongside the students,” Laura says. “That’s what makes this different.”

Jason remembers being teased at school. “I went to seven different schools. I dropped out when I was 16. I worked for the state and went to a night program, a literary class at Loma Vista.”

His long-term goal is to get his GED. “Jason is in a structured program,” Laura says. “He reviews sounds and then practices the new concept with blends, lists, putting words in a paragraph and then spelling. Each book gets harder. Book 9 is rough with double vowels.”

Meanwhile, Ike, the reluctant writer, became the center’s local poet, writing the following poem:

The Bed

My grandma had a

Featherbed

It was so soft you could

fall forever.

You could get lost in it.

My three cousins and

I slept in it and

Didn’t see each other until morning.

“I’ve been writing poems ever since,” Ike said. “I didn’t know I was writing poetry.”

Like Ike, Jason is proud of his progress. “What is surprising,” Laura says, “is what they already know and what they do not know. A lot of this is filling in those gaps.”

Even more surprising is how many people are unaware that family members cannot read. “My daughter did not know I couldn’t read until she was 35,” Ike says.

Whenever reading was needed, he would defer to his wife. “I was good with math. She never knew,” he adds, noting that his daughter is pleased with his enrollment in PSC.

According to Laura, it’s common that clients learn to cover up their problems.

“If I had to go for a job, I would tell them I left my glasses in the car,” Ike said, “and then I would take the job application to the car and my wife would help me. I knew the answers. I just did not know how to write the answers down.” Jason had a similar story. “When I took my driver’s test, I took it orally. Now I can read it. I can read street signs and magazines.”

For more information, contact Laura at 927-3250 or Lseaholm@ccclib.org or visit www.ccclib.org/psc.