LitNet Opens the Susan Weintraub Tutor Resource Center
The resource center occupies three rooms on the first floor of 32 Park St., giving the tutoring nonprofit more space and flexibility in addition to its space in the Lee Library.
The late Susan Weintraub served on LitNet's board for 10 years, which is the longest time allowed, and was able to rejoin not long before her passing. Despite being sick, her passion to help others still remained strong.
"She had been sick for some time, and her ability to help out had been decreasing, but she was still passionate right up to the end about helping people … she would be proud of how far the organization has come in the 11 years that she spent here," her husband, Jay Weintraub, said.
The new center at 32 Park St. will provide more flexibility and convenience that goes beyond the Lee Library, where the LitNet tutors and students have met for 30 years. LitNet already had an office in the building and now occupies a three-room suite on the first floor that will allow for operations, computers, library collections and space for tutor-learners to meet. It will continue to use the resource and tutor space at the library as well.
There are more than 145 volunteer tutors serving English-as-second-language speakers from 30 countries speaking more than 18 languages.
Following Weintraub's death last February, family members and friends banded together to help cement her legacy and raised approximately $45,000 to donate to LitNet.
"This is what she would have wanted but wouldn't know how to ask for and wouldn't feel comfortable asking for since she was selfless …" Weintraub's son, Scott, said.
"It's emotional to come back here and think about the kinds of things that she did in her life and what her legacy will be now that she's not with us. But it's very heartwarming at the same time."
Tutors, friends, and Weintraub's family gathered in the center to get the first glimpse into the endless opportunities that now exist because of her inspiration.
During the ceremony, Weintraub's friends, peers, and family shared heartfelt stories about their friend and her impact on not just her students but on everyone around her.
"I'm grateful to LitNet for providing this important service to the community. I think it's so valuable as somebody who works on language and literature and culture from, you know, a non US perspective. I think this is just, I think it's a wonderful organization that I hope we can continue to contribute to," Scott Weintraub said.
Weintraub held a master's in speech therapy and had a private practice as well as working in medical and educational settings. She spent many years as an English tutor for immigrants at LitNet. Her love for language runs deep in the family's blood. Both her sons, Scott and Michael, work in the field: Scott teaches Spanish at the University of New Hampshire and Michael lives in Colombia working in Latin American Studies.
"My mom was a great positive influence of welcoming other cultures, learning about new things and travel and all of those things," Scott said.
Her love, soul, and legacy will remain in the new center forever, said Liliana Ortiz-Bermudez, Weintraub's friend, former student, and founder and president of Festival Latino of the Berkshires.
A plaque with the names of the donors who contributed to the materialization of Weintraub's legacy hangs on the center's wall. They are still accepting donations.
"She was all about helping people and so that's what the tutor center is really about: Helping not just the people who are being tutored but the tutors themselves and giving them a space that they could comfortably gather to offer assistance," Jay Weintraub said.
Many members in attendance expressed their deep honor of working with Weintraub and said they are greatly saddened by not only their loss but the community's loss.
"I was privileged to work with Sue Weintraub. For the years that I've worked with her, you couldn't find anybody more dedicated to the mission who was always there when you needed her was so incredibly helpful, and I am so proud that, through the generosity of her friends and family, we can do this in her memory because she was just amazing," LitNet board President Merle Duskin Kailas said.
Executive Director Leigh Doherty said the organization is looking to see a greater connection and sense of the community through the use of the center.
Weintraub was described as selfless, dedicated, and had a strong desire to see not only her students succeed but also her peers. When Doherty became the executive director, Weintraub "cheered" her on.
"She wanted me to win for LitNet, and she was very devoted. It's such a good feeling to do this for her, with her in mind, or with her really," Doherty said. "If she could have asked for something that she would have wanted this would have been it. So she just had so much pride in being supportive of helping people move ahead. And she had a lot of pride in LitNet."
This new space will help LitNet better accommodate their learners and tutors and puts them on a new level professionally, LitNet learner liaison Miguel Silva said.
"I also think that it's going make it so that we can accommodate more learners, more tutors, and gives us access to people that we work with that we wouldn't otherwise have as much. So that's a wonderful thing," he said.
More information on LitNet can be found here.
Tags: ribbon cutting, tutoring,
