TUCSON, Ariz.
Ruth Tapia is giving back to her community an act that fulfills her need to help others.
The native of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, remembers a time when people extended a hand to help her through Pima Community College Adult Education’s family literacy program.
That was five years ago, and today Tapia, 33, is working as the economic literacy coordinator at Tucson Community Food Bank.
Tapia recently shared her experiences at a luncheon before 900 people hosted by the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona at the Tucson Convention Center.
The mother of three recalled feeling intimidated at parent-teacher conferences and frustrated because she could not help her children with their homework at Blenman Elementary School.
She received a flier from the school informing her about the literacy program, and she quickly enrolled. Her life and that of her family’s changed for the better. She completed the program in 2004.
In family literacy, Tapia and her children Ruth Elizabeth, 12, David, 11, and Daniel, 8 studied together and progressed in reading skills and in speaking English. Her husband, Rolando Tapia, 43, a maintenance man at a local church, supported his family in their education.
