What would it feel like to navigate the world not knowing how to read?
“It would feel like being blind. How do you navigate that? You have to have help, ” LIFT Director Kiersten Seeman said.
Seeman is in charge of an after-school program for children in second through fourth grade. The program focuses on three areas: literacy, whole-child development and spiritual nurture. Children who are below the literacy level get recommended to the program by Eastbrook Community Schools.
The program focuses on literacy by pairing each child with a mentor to help build reading confidence.
However, their goals do not stop at literacy.
“For our kids, they start getting messages early that they don't keep up with their peers,” she said. “They know they’re behind. Those messages that they tell themselves can spill over into so many other parts of their little spirits, and I hate that.”
“So it's not only that I want them to be able to read but I want them to have the confidence that comes from that they just have what it takes to navigate the world and to become all that God wants them to be, to be able to go on for further education, to graduate high school, to just be productive and confident members of society. So obviously, at my deepest core, I would love for them to read God's word for themselves, and that they can't read then they can't read his letter of love to them in Scripture.”
By pairing each child with the same mentor throughout the course of the three-year program, children are able to gain confidence and the knowledge that someone believes in them.
The whole-person element of LIFT is evident throughout the programming. Following a family-style snacktime, children spend the afternoon playing, worshipping, side-by-side reading with a mentor and participating in gametime and a lesson from a volunteer or community member. The events the students get to experience have varied greatly, from learning about Lunar New Year in China to Taylor’s cross-fit team coming in to share workouts.
“[We are] just trying to give them these kinds of experiences they wouldn't otherwise get,” Seeman said.
Seeman finds joy in witnessing students gain confidence in their abilities.
She recalled a moment when she saw a student find joy in reading. :
“He was just doing a fabulous job, and I was trying to just speak that to him, because these kids don't get that type of encouragement a lot at school,” she said. “Anytime I can cheer them on, I want to do that. “And his eyes lit up, and he said, ‘Are you going to tell Miss Melissa? Are you going to tell her?’ He wanted her, his team leader, to know that he was doing a good job, and it was my joy to be able to tell his team leader.”
The work done at LIFT may be slow, but they have goals for lifelong impact.
“We did have a little girl who came to know Jesus because a volunteer invested in her, actually, Taylor student invested in her, continued to invest in her after both the student graduated from Lyft and the Taylor student graduated from Taylor, but kept in contact and maintained that friendship, and was able to share Jesus in such a way that this little girl wanted to trust Jesus with her soul.”
For Seeman, this leadership opportunity has been a process of growth.
“I think stepping into this role has been very humbling for me, because it has shown me how dependent I am on the Lord,” she said.
For LIFT to function, every dime must be fund-raised.
Their staffing is completely reliant on volunteers within the Upland community.
“I do pray,” Seeman said. “I ask the Lord to show me where to go, who to ask. But at the end of the day, if the Lord doesn't do the work, LIFT won't exist. And it's just been a great reminder that LIFT is his, and so my role is to follow him as he leads me.”
