Little Havana's All-Aboard Family Literacy Center serves community

This Literacy Center is helping parents learn English and also learn to help their children do better in school. The teacher in this Center received the 2009 Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year award. There is a very long waiting list of families trying to join the classes. - - Donna Poisl

BY CHRISTINA VEIGA

She likes to think of it as the ``Little Havana Country Club.''

But with a waiting list of more than 135 families, supervisor Maria Piñón only wishes the All-Aboard Family Literacy Center in Miami was big enough to accommodate all those who want to be a part.

For five years, the center at 145 SW 11th Ave., has served as a gathering place to celebrate birthdays, mourn deaths -- and most importantly, learn. The center teaches parenting skills and literacy for families with children up to age 7 in the Riverside Elementary area in Little Havana. The program provides parents with the academic foundation that will lead to self-sufficiency while ensuring their children acquire the skills needed at their grade level.

''Many are new immigrants, so they find here a family,'' Piñón said.
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