Dyer Assists Families and Literacy
One of the most challenging crises facing families and individuals right now is the crisis of isolation. Today in Florida one in six families lives in poverty, and 40 percent of Florida’s children live in a single-parent household. According to Safe Families Florida, last month alone, there were 25,000 crisis calls for suspected maltreatment of Florida children. To help combat this problem, Safe Families for Children clears and trains volunteers to serve families in a variety of ways, helping to support, encourage, and connect isolated families with community resources, connections, and programs which can help a family stabilize and thrive. The February Dyer Difference Award in Indian River County will help support Safe Families for Children and their upcoming Pairings for a Purpose fundraising event, slated for March 3 in the South of Vero Airport (SOVA) District.
In St. Lucie County, February’s Dyer Difference Award is all about literacy. Learn to Read St. Lucie County has been helping individuals ages 16 and over who want to change and improve their lives by learning to read for forty years. The inspiration for this life-changing organization began in 1981 when founder, Dorothy Brennan, read an article in the local paper about a child who nearly died because of its mother’s inability to read the directions on a bottle of medicine. Since becoming an official nonprofit organization in 1983, volunteer tutors have been trained to work with individuals to help them learn to read, speak English, and acquire the technological skills that are needed to navigate daily life. The February Dyer Difference Award supports Learn to Read St. Lucie County and its efforts to assist more than 300 individuals in St. Lucie County every year, as well as its annual Feast for Literacy event, “Read Between the Wines,” scheduled for March 22nd at River Walk Center in Fort Pierce.
The Dyer Difference Award is all about celebrating the beauty and kindness in our midst. For the Dyer family and the members of the Dyer staff, the award and the $6,000 in donations made monthly between the St. Lucie and Indian River Counties are all about helping to make a positive difference in the community. For the recipients, it’s an acknowledgement of their tireless efforts to do the same and a much-needed financial boost to help further their missions. If you’d like to nominate a non-profit organization for the Dyer Difference Award, please visit www.dyerdifference.org or find Dyer Difference on Facebook.
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