WHO WE ARE

About Our Center

The focus for opening the Pelican Community Center is to assist adults through instruction, using a proven five step level of learning approach.  The goal is for each individual to achieve independence and empowerment through English classes.  The power of literacy is not just the ability to read and write.  It is for each person to apply these skills and to effectively connect, decipher, and recognize the complexities of the world in which they live.  To date, over 1,000+ adults who reside within the communities of Golden Gate, Naples Manor, Naples Park, Naples and Immokalee have been successfully served under the careful direction of Pastor Mark Eisold. Pastor Eisold and a coalition of dedicated volunteers within the Community Center continue to instruct ethnicities which  include:  Venezuelan, Cuban, Mexican, Haitian, Vietnamese, Guatemalan, Peruvian, Columbian, Brazilian, Bolivian, Ecuadoran, Puerto Rican, Uruguayan and Hungarian. According to the American Fact Finder (2011-2015), the need is great, for the communities mentioned above, as the Hispanic/Latino population in this area alone is over 63,000, and poverty within these communities is approximately 24%. Our goals are realistic and very beneficial in helping these populations achieve success.

Mission

The mission of the Pelican Community Center and Lutheran Church is to support all families and individuals through their daily struggles of life, by providing what they need most in order to be happier and healthier families, and to become productive members of society.  Our center provides English Literacy classes in the mornings and evenings.  We serve the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic communities within Collier County.  The Pelican Community Center and Lutheran Church is a mission, and our work is reviewed and overseen by Grace Lutheran Church of Naples.  Our center welcomes all!

What Makes Our Services Unique

What makes us unique from  other local agencies providing English literacy classes is that we developed a curriculum for improving the confidence and competence of those who have low level English, or lack English skills.  The development of a curriculum that was dedicated to students who are laborers and workers who are unemployed, due to their inability to speak English.  We developed a curriculum that results in usable sentences, vocabulary, and pronunciation.  We make our classes flexible, day and evening,  which benefits our students who work various hours.  Our classes are ongoing and can be stopped and then begun again at any time, and we make our classes FUN!