Pittsburghers' English tutoring helps them connect with immigrants settling in region

When Eliane Totti’s stomach ached in her native Brazil, she’d take pineapple, collard greens, lemon and ginger from the homeopathic shop she ran four hours north of Sao Paulo and whip up a juice.

The businesswoman learned more about American healthcare after immigrating to Mt. Lebanon two years ago.

She’s not a big fan.

“Plants are good for many parts of our body,” said Totti, 49, as she sat recently in Mt. Lebanon Public Library. “Not only are drugs good for our health but also plants, fruits and vegetables.”

In Itajuba, the city of 100,000 residents strong in Brazil’s Sapucai River valley she called home, Totti sourced the 246 juices she sold in her storefront from an eclectic array of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Her diet has changed since her husband’s engineering job brought them to Pennsylvania and she started shopping at Giant Eagle. But, she feels she’s thriving in Pittsburgh’s South Hills.

And that, she said, is thanks to Literacy Pittsburgh.

The Downtown-based nonprofit, which offers personalized learning in Allegheny and Beaver counties, was founded as an all-volunteer organization in 1982. Today, southwestern Pennsylvania’s largest literacy group tutors more than 5,000 people a year in everything from career readiness and GED exam preparation to basic computer skills and English language learning.

Literacy Pittsburgh helps more people each year through its adult tutoring programs than any group in the state, said Hannah Gerbeschacht, the organization’s director of volunteer and community programs.

When it comes to English language learning, eight program coordinators manage nearly 400 volunteer tutors who, in turn, teach some 700 to 800 students annually, she said. About three out of every four of those students are learning English as a second language.

“Our curriculum is geared toward using English in everyday life,” said Gerbeschacht, a former English teacher in South Korea who’s seen Literacy Pittsburgh’s staff double to 80 since coming on board just seven years ago. “This is about meeting your neighbors and making an impact in their lives.”

The immigrant population in Pittsburgh is not large in numbers — in 2022, less than 1 in every 10 Pittsburghers identified as foreign-born, U.S. census data showed.

By comparison, the census recorded 46.2 million immigrants nationwide in 2022, accounting for 13.9% of the total population, census data showed. That’s up from 4.7% of the population, or 9.6 million Americans, in 1970.

But, those immigrants punch above their weight, according to the organizations that provide services to them.

They represent 9% of Pittsburgh’s population but account for nearly 18% of STEM workers, 16% of educators and more than 13% of employees in area manufacturing, according to a report, “New Americans In Pittsburgh,” that the American Immigration Council released last year.

Between 2014 and 2019, Pittsburgh’s population dropped 1.3% — but its immigrant population spiked 18.9%, the report said. Without immigrants coming to Pittsburgh, the city’s total population would have decreased by 2.7%.

In 2019 alone, immigrants in Allegheny County held $730.8 million in spending power, paid $202.9 million in federal taxes, and paid $95.1 million in state and local taxes, the report said.

Mt. Lebanon resident Debra McNavish has been tutoring Totti in a small but well-lighted meeting room at the borough library on Castle Shannon Boulevard for two hours a day, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, since October 2022.

The retired insurance company supervisor who grew up in the South Hills also has tutored a second woman from Brazil and a retired Turkish journalist.

“I’m a grandmother, so I’m used to coaching, but the skills you learn anywhere are transferrable to this volunteering,” said McNavish. “And it’s the immersion, along with the tutoring, that helps you become conversational.”

McNavish started volunteering for Literacy Pittsburgh shortly after the covid-19 pandemic. Totti previously studied English at a church in Squirrel Hill but stressed she’s clicked with McNavish.

“I know that Deb is an excellent tutor,” said Totti, a mellifluous Portuguese accent occasionally surfacing between syllables. “And she’s my friend, too.”

McNavish also has learned a lot from Totti, whose life stories continue to wow her.

The mother of two — Totti has one daughter in high school, one in college — earned a bachelor’s degree in international business from a university near Sao Paulo. She also worked for three years in Sweden after living in Minas Gerais, an inland Brazilian state whose cobblestone streets harken back to the region’s 18th-century gold rush.

“I was really surprised by how warm and welcoming I’ve found the volunteering,” McNavish said. “And you also get to see the result of your actions, knowing that you’ve helped someone.”

The results, though, hardly came to McNavish by accident. She admits she started a Duolingo course in Portuguese when she learned she’d be tutoring Totti.

“I wanted to understand how difficult it was to learn a language,” she said. “I have friends now I can speak to in that language.”

Lori Como also has seen the transformative powers of Literacy Pittsburgh’s one-on-one tutoring. She worked in banking and private education before joining Literacy Pittsburgh — then dubbed the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council — in 1999. One of her first students immigrated to Pittsburgh from Syria.

“[The Syrian woman] was educated in her country but didn’t know any English — we literally were starting with the basics,” said Como, who is today the organization’s chief program officer. “We’re always talking about students and promoting their stories but I also stay in touch. I know who these students are.”

In the past 25 years, the Syrian woman has welcomed extended family to southwestern Pennsylvania, Como said. The woman bought a house in Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood; her relatives run restaurants in the area.

Como also follows the children of some former students — including a pair of Bulgarian professors who came to Pennsylvania via a green card lottery — on social media.

“It’s amazing how people come here and what their backgrounds are,” she said.

Multiple Pittsburghers who have tutored immigrants through Literacy Pittsburgh told TribLive the experience was formative for them.

Bill Campbell estimates he’s tutored about 250 immigrants through Literacy Pittsburgh. He started volunteering with the group around February 2001, when he retired from a 28-year career in accounting and finance with U.S. Steel.

“You learn a lot from these people, that’s for sure,” said Campbell, 73, of Shadyside. “I’ve had a student from almost every continent.”

The tutoring also has led to long-time friendships, Campbell said.

One of his first assignments was tutoring a Brazilian family who had come to Pittsburgh so doctors could diagnose and treat their son, who was 4 years old at the time. They developed strong bonds. The son is now 24; the family named Campbell as his godfather.

“I think immigrants are really important for this city — and for the whole country, actually,” Campbell said.

“I’ve always enjoyed the tutoring,” added tutor Eric Baysinger, 61, of Regent Square. “I like helping them get used to Pittsburgh, answering their questions, helping them understand what people are saying.”

Baysinger moved from his native Iowa to Pittsburgh in 2002 and taught foreign languages at Pine-Richland High School in Pittsburgh’s North Hills for 12 years. He’s fluent in Spanish, Russian and German and “gets by” in French and Dutch.

He said he’s enjoyed teaching immigrants how to apply for driver’s licenses or talk to landlords. “What is Halloween about?” is a question he’s tackled a few times.

“I plan to keep doing this as long as possible,” Baysinger said. “It seems there is a constant need — and I enjoy doing it.”

Totti, the Brazilian immigrant, said working with McNavish, her Literacy Pittsburgh tutor, has defined her transition into life in America.

She said she couldn’t imagine any other way of learning about life in the United States.

“I miss my family, my friends, my home — the food, too,” said Totti, with a smile. “But I think I have a new friend. We exchange information on our cultures. And everything is a delight here. I’m lucky.”