Compassion can seem in short supply when most people are watching their bottom line. So when a group of citizens takes time and money to help others, it's worth taking note.

A group of residents from Galloway Ridge Retirement Community at Fearrington Village saw a need for literacy volunteers and took the initiative to bring the Chatham County Literacy Council back to life.

Try to imagine your life without being able to read the newspaper, follow a recipe or fill out a ballot. These problems are real for nearly one in five Chatham County residents.

Half of all adults in North Carolina don't make a livable wage because they lack necessary reading and life skills, Gov. Bev Perdue said in her 2009 Literacy Awareness Month proclamation. It's this statistic that the Galloway Ridge volunteers, working with the Literacy Council of Chatham County, are trying to diminish.

Galloway Ridge has a charitable fund that helps and sometimes funds community work. After a proposal presented by one of its residents, the community gave a grant to the Literacy Council.

The council now tutors about 230 students in centers around Chatham County. Most are adults who did not graduate from high school. Some did not reach even ninth grade.

Resident Evelynn Ullman, the vice president of the board of directors for the Literacy Council, describes the group's work as "helping the rebirth of an organization that has been around for a long time."

Volunteer Gloria Wilkins is getting English as a Second Language accreditation from Duke University in order to be a more effective teacher and volunteer. Joe Hammond, a professor at Georgia Tech and Clemson for 30 years, tutors and writes grant proposals for the council.

"I feel that it is a very real community enhancement," said resident Beverly Chapin, secretary to the Literacy Council. "It's not talking about giving back, it's actually getting out there and helping people better their lives."