Literacy volunteers find new home

After losing their longtime home last month, Carson City Literacy Volunteers have found a new location. And they want to show it off.

"We have a wonderful new place," said Director Jan Whitemore. "It is fabulous."

The organization is hosting an open house 1:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday to show the community the new site.

When the volunteers learned they would no longer be able to use a room at the Nevada State Library and Archives, they put a call out to the community.

As a nonprofit organization, they could not afford to pay rent, but they needed a place to meet with their students to tutor them in reading.

They preferred somewhere discreet where students could come and go without having to disclose that they were learning to read, something that is often a source of shame.

Whitemore said they did not have to wait long. They received five offers for locations, finally settling on a three-room office suite on Jeanell Drive, offered up by Garth Richards.

Because the offices had sat empty for several years, they needed new carpeting, which was donated by Sierra Floor Covering, Inc. Jim's Heating and Plumbing renovated the bathroom.

Black Pine Construction Co. offered its services as well.

"We've been overwhelmed with the generosity of the people in Carson City," Whitemore said.

While she said she was appreciative of the support, Whitemore said she was not surprised by it.

"Carson City is like that," she said. "They respond to people in need."

There's just one more thing they need:

"The biggest donation anybody could make now is being a tutor," Whitemore said.