About Us

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Building Literacy
​in Dayton

​Life at the ​BLC

Our Vision, Mission, & Beliefs

​Our History

A Letter from Our Founders

Co-Founders Sr. Helen Weber (left)
​and Sr. Maryann Bremke (right)

Dear Friends,

We are happy that you are visiting the Brunner Literacy Website. These pages contain new and exciting materials that present the latest information about us. They give you explanations of our five programs and special events, and show you how you can benefit or become involved. You can find literacy facts that will astound you and read about literacy-related news items.

We take this opportunity to shout out a thank you to our Board, our Executive Director, program managers, staff members, and all volunteers who contribute toward the success of the Center. Through these precious individuals we are able to reach out to those who come to us for a wide variety of literacy needs.

Other benefactors to whom we are indebted are our donors, individual and corporate, who help to ensure future sustainability. We recognize them as key resources helping us to fulfill our mission to keep the Brunner Literacy Center a welcoming place where adults can reach their literacy goals.

Help us help the illiterate needy to change their lives.

Blessings,

Sister Maryann Bremke
Sister Helen Weber

 

Building Literacy i​n Dayton

Every day at the Center, volunteers put learning tools into the hands of adult learners. Established in 2011 to improve literacy in Dayton, The Brunner Literacy Center relies heavily on the generous donations of corporations, foundations, and private individuals. With this financial help, the administrators, staff and volunteers work to fulfill the Center’s mission of helping adults learn to read, write, compute, and learn English as a new language. Tutoring and other services, including books and materials are provided to our students without charge.

Video services courtesy of the LexisNexis multimedia team as part of the company’s community-based LexisNexis® Cares program.

 

Life at the BLC

 

Our Vision, Mission, & Beliefs

Our Vision

Empowering adults to reach their literacy potential

Our Mission

The Brunner Literacy Center is a welcoming place for adults to reach their educational dreams.

Our Beliefs

Administrators, staff and volunteer tutors are committed to the following beliefs:

• That literacy is a basic human right;
• That literacy improves quality of life;
• That literacy diminishes misery and imparts hope;
• That each person is worthy of being treated with privacy and dignity;
• That personal relationships are critical to learning;
• That everyone deserves a chance to achieve success in learning;
• That literate adults enrich family and community.

 

Our History

In 2010, two Sisters of the Precious Blood, Sr. Helen Weber and Sr. Maryann Bremke, both long-time educators, entertained a dream of establishing a literacy center in the northwest corner of Montgomery County. The literacy need among this underserved population is critical. Father William O’Donnell, pastor of Dayton Precious Blood Parish, supported the Sisters’ dream and offered the use of an empty retail building that had been previously donated to the Parish. The dream took shape rapidly.

The
​Beginning

In July of 2011, the Brunner Literacy Center received its Permit to Occupy and officially opened its doors. Advertising strategies were put in place, and soon students and volunteer tutors responded. As the Center began to take shape, furniture, books, resources and equipment were acquired. A plan developed to offer tuition-free, one-on-one tutoring to adults who wanted the opportunity to enhance their reading, writing, math or basic computer skills. By September of 2011, operations were in full swing.

The Construction

​Over the next few years, the BLC grew very quickly, and by the end of 2013 more than 130 people were volunteering at the Center to serve more than 160 students. Today, in the middle of 2016, the Brunner Literacy Center is proud and thrilled to say that we still have more than 130 tutors and have served nearly 800 clients since our inception.

The
​BLC Today

Students continue to enroll daily. The need for volunteer tutors is ongoing. Consequently, the center offers New Tutor Orientation workshops periodically. Call the center at 937-567-9600 to learn of the next scheduled workshop, or visit our Events page periodically to check out what is being offered soon.

Our Funding

The Brunner Literacy Center relies heavily on corporate donations, foundations and/or private individual donations. These monies provide for tutoring and other services, including books and materials. The center does not charge for the services it provides to students.

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Our Namesake

A statuette of Mother Brunner belonging to BLC co-founder Sr. Maryann Bremke

The Sisters of the Precious Blood have their origin in Switzerland in 1834 when Maria Anna Brunner, a widowed mother of six children, treasured praying night hours of adoration in Castle Loewenberg, a school operated by her son. Her prayer and love of God went beyond the chapel. It was common for Maria Anna to bake extra bread and distribute the loaves as she walked down the Swiss mountains on her way to Mass.

She became known as Mother because the poor would be seen coming up the mountain with sacks and jugs to carry home bread and milk. Maria Anna’s love for prayer and the Eucharist, and her outreach to the needy were contagious. Soon other women joined her and followed in her example.

​Mother Brunner died in 1836, but her work for the poor continues through the Sisters of the Precious Blood helped today by generous men and women willing to give of their time, talent, and treasure. The Sisters of the Precious Blood presently minister in the United States, Chile, and Guatemala in education, pastoral ministry, and outreach to those in need.