ReadWest Receives Grant from NM Gas Company
January 29, 2019 – ReadWest, Inc. received a $10,000 grant from the New Mexico Gas Company – an Emera Company – to support its adult literacy services. Pictured below are NM Gas Company VP Operations and ReadWest Board of Directors VP Ray Sanchez, ReadWest Executive Director Muncie Hansen, ReadWest Board of Directors President Todd Clark, and New Mexico Gas Company President Ryan Shell.
About New Mexico Gas Company
New Mexico Gas Company cares. We believe in giving back to the communities where we live and work. Our employees do that through financial donations and, most importantly, by volunteering their time. Our staff participates in many activities that help communities across New Mexico.
For more information, visit https://www.nmgco.com/
Celebrating Our New Home
On January 23rd, approximately sixty people gathered to celebrate ReadWest’s new home at 103 Rio Rancho Blvd NE, Suite A-5, Rio Rancho, NM 87124. Rio Rancho’s Mayor Hull provided a speech, noting that ReadWest had been a part of the city nearly as long as it had been incorporated. After his speech ReadWest Board President Todd Clark and Executive Director Muncie Hansen cut the ribbon. After the ribbon cutting and presentations, everyone was invited in to enjoy refreshments and tour the new facility.
Photos were generously provided by Barnes and Noble representative Howard George who also owns a photography business.
We are excited to announce that Under Charlie’s Covers, Sandoval County’s largest bookstore, has partnered with ReadWest for #GivingTuesdayNM! They have generously agreed to donate 25% of all sales on November 27th. When we asked owner Lara Harrison about why she chose ReadWest, she said:
“Under Charlie’s Covers is committed to helping readers of every age. Adult literacy is an essential building block to future success. ReadWest is providing a crucial service to members of our community and we are proud to contribute to their important mission.”
Executive Director Muncie Hansen was thrilled about the opportunity to partner. “Partnering with Under Charlie’s Covers is a perfect fit for us. We help adults read the books that they sell.” She also noted that it was excellent timing to receive additional funding to help with the challenges of moving into a new facility.
Under Charlie’s Covers is open 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on November 27th. Be sure to stop by and stock up on books for your holiday gifts. Don’t forget to treat yourself to one or two as well!
Can’t make it to Under Charlie’s Covers on November 27th or are one of our out-of-area supporters? You can still make a direct donation or purchase a t-shirt and have it delivered directly to you.
#GivingTuesdayNM is not about just one sector, cause, or community. #GivingTuesdayNM is about New Mexico.
Together we can do more.
You can find the complete list of participating organizations at www.GivingTuesdayNM.org.
Recent Coverage in the Media
In case you missed it, ReadWest has been in the news lately!
The Rio Rancho Observer published an article about the need to find a new home both in their online edition (Oct. 5) and in print. You can find the online article here.
Executive Director Muncie Hansen also made an early morning appearance on KRQE. You can watch the recording here:
You can also read the accompanying article and access it via this link. https://www.krqe.com/news/mornings/readwest-helping-adults-transform-their-lives/1574374613
ReadWest Seeks New Home
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Muncie Hansen
505-892-1131
readwest@readwest.org
ReadWest Adult Literacy Program to Move
The 29-year-old charity is seeking a new home.
October 3, 2018, Rio Rancho, New Mexico – ReadWest, Inc., one of New Mexico’s largest and oldest adult literacy programs announced today that it has been given 60 days to vacate its current location in Rio Rancho Jewish Center on Grande Ave. ReadWest has been generously housed there since 1996 at a very modest monthly rent. The current location, which is about 1600 square feet, houses two full-time and one part-time staff, has a training conference room, a library of nearly 4,000 instructional books and materials for volunteer tutors, and six small classrooms where tutors and students can meet safely without distractions. Providing space for the student/tutor pairs to meet each week plays a large part in ReadWest’s success. The experienced staff is on site to help tutors find materials in the resource library. Meeting at a regular time and location helps the student focus on his/her learning. Now the adult literacy agency will be forced to find new accommodations that will likely double in cost at the least.
“I have always been inspired by the many students who have come through our doors and overcome numerous challenges to move forward in life, “ said executive director Muncie Hansen. “Seeing their successes gives me faith that we too will rise to the current challenge and come out even stronger. “
As a volunteer-driven, community-focused nonprofit, ReadWest has taken to its network and issued a “call to action” asking for donations to assist with the upcoming move and increased operating and rental costs. Donations via credit or debit card can be made online at www.readwest.org/donate-new-home. Checks can be mailed to ReadWest, PO Box 44508, Rio Rancho, NM 87174.
Serving Bernalillo and Sandoval counties since 1989, ReadWest, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. ReadWest provides one-to-one tutoring for adult literacy, computer literacy, and English Language Learning. ReadWest has over 333 adult learners enrolled. More than 200 trained volunteers provide free literacy help once a week for two hours. Last fiscal year, ReadWest Volunteers logged 12,719 hours of literacy tutoring. According to the Independent Sector’s estimate of a volunteer tutor’s wage of $24.14 per hour, ReadWest tutors donated $307,037 worth of free literacy instruction to our community.