With the two-year, $180,000 grant, the nonprofit had expanded its citizenship test study program and had hoped to soon provide study sessions in other areas of the city, including on Madison’s east side.
“We hit a record number of students in 2023 and then in 2024 we had another record number of students. So we’ve been trying to expand classes,” Ryan said.
Those plans can no longer move forward.
The organization also used some of its grant funding to contract for legal immigration assistance with Centro Hispano, a Madison nonprofit that works to elevate and support Dane County’s Latino community. Ryan said the Literacy Network will no longer be able to afford that collaboration without the federal grant. This will mean immigrants like Ramirez may be left to find their own legal resources, which can be difficult when someone is still working to learn English.
Ramirez’s wife helped him find the citizenship program at the Literacy Network while searching for immigration lawyers in the area.
