The two volunteers honoured last month for 15 or more years on the Valley Adult Learning Association (VALA) board both first came to the agency for help with computers.
Board chair Diane Funk and treasurer Donna Penny were recognized at VALA’s annual general meeting on Sept. 21.
“I didn’t need the recognition,” said Funk, who has chaired the board for 15 years and sat on it before that. “I just think it’s such an important thing for this area.”
Funk first went to VALA almost 20 years ago to ask for help. “I didn’t have a clue how to use a computer other than turn it on,” she said. She was the youngest person in her first class.
After seeing what the agency did, she accepted an invitation to join the board. “It’s amazing that people my generation and older have a place to go,” she said. “Over the past years, I have served with many people who put their all into serving VALA and the community”.
Penny, a board member for 15 years, signed up for courses after she retired because she was “pretty naive on the computer.” She also took a photography class. “They’re just a great bunch of people to be around,” she said.
Penny said the recognition was “pretty nice for sure. You don’t expect that, but we’re just doing it because we enjoy doing it,” she said.
Executive Director Kim Redford created plaques recognizing five, 10 and 15-plus years of board service this year. “I have people that have been volunteering here to be on our board of directors for over 15 years,” she said. “That’s incredible.”
The nonprofit is funded by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, but Redford, herself a VALA employee for 24 years, said it is “very underfunded.”
Penny, who co-signs VALA’s cheques, agreed. “They’re working bare bones compared to what I’m sure lots of places are,” she said.
This, in turn, puts extra emphasis on the volunteers who keep VALA running. “It’s hard to get people to volunteer to serve on a board now,” Funk said. “People are busy. Lives have changed.”
Penny said VALA is always looking for local people to come to its meetings and offer input. “You don’t realize what it’s all about until you do get involved as a volunteer,” she said.
The program VALA delivers has also been renamed. On Nov. 20, 2025, the ministry rebranded Literacy and Basic Skills as Get SET—short for Skills, Education and Training. The program helps about 44,000 Ontarians a year build literacy, numeracy, digital and interpersonal skills.
The ministry said agencies backed the change to better reflect the program’s purpose and draw in new learners. It did not change how the program works.
“This is more skills and training, and what you need in order to live meaningfully and independently and on your own terms,” Redford said. “It isn’t always necessarily learning how to read.”
Redford calls VALA “the best-kept secret in town,” and Penny said people have asked her what VALA even stands for. Funk said the agency used to hold more fundraisers, which may have kept it in the public eye. “We just don’t have the time anymore,” she said.
VALA, part of the Employment Ontario network, works across five “goal paths”: employment, secondary school, post-secondary, apprenticeship and independence. Funk said businesses have even had VALA train their employees “on greeting and that kind of stuff. People don’t even think of that,” she said.
VALA also helps people prepare for the Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC), which replaced the GED in 2024. Redford said VALA is working to keep testing accessible locally so people don’t have to travel to Thunder Bay. TVO’s Independent Learning Centre currently lists two Fort Frances test sites, at Confederation College and the public library.
Unlike traditional schooling, VALA lets learners set the agenda. “You tell us what you need to learn,” Redford said. “So you’re a lot more in the driver’s seat here.”
It starts with an intake interview. VALA also offers one-on-one tutoring. Services are free. Provincial guidelines open Get SET to Ontario residents aged 18 and older, and Redford said learners also need a social insurance number, which is how the program is subsidized.
Redford also pointed to what she called a “hidden gem”: 211 Ontario, a free, confidential, 24-hour helpline and website for finding services anywhere in the province. Call 2-1-1 or visit 211ontario.ca.
Penny said she has no intention, for now, of giving up what she called “this little volunteer thing I have. It’s been rewarding for sure,” she said.
“VALA has always and consistently year after year done the very best,” Funk said. “I’m really proud to be a little tiny, tiny part of that.”
VALA is at 241C Second St. E. and can be reached at (807) 274-3553 or vala.ca.
