The Sister Audrey Children's Reading Fund

The story of Sister Audrey Lindenfelser, SSND, is East Side Learning Center's story. It is your story - a story of our collective impact on the lives of over 2,400 children who grew up and are growing up on Saint Paul's East Side. Her work as founding executive director of East Side Learning Center, with the partnership of the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), unlocked the potential of these children, one at a time by providing a solid foundation in reading. 

In 1998, Sister Audrey Lindenfelser and the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) were asked to help the children living in the East Side Neighborhood of Saint Paul. In 2001, they started East Side Learning Center (ESLC) and hired Sister Audrey Lindenfelser, SSND, as the founding executive director. 

Under Sister Audrey's leadership, ESLC grew from one after-school tutoring program with 27 children to five sites serving about 445 children annually. 

Unlike other tutoring programs, Sister Audrey envisioned ESLC to be a one-on-one classroom, where each child's unique abilities and strengths are leveraged to help him or her learn to read. The key to ESLC's high outcomes is the individualized lesson plans and caring tutors who ensure each child's unique challenges to reading are addressed, one day and one lesson at a time. 

When she started, Sister Audrey envisioned a world where all children discover the pride and joy of reading. She worked tirelessly and gave sacrificially to ensure that, with your support, we unlock each child’s potential through the foundation of reading.

Since day one in 2001, Sister Audrey has guided ESLC to serve over 2,411 children by inspiring and empowering 2,831 volunteer and professional tutors to provide more than 150,000 hours of reading tutoring at no cost to families experiencing poverty.

Gifts to the Sister Audrey Children’s Reading Fund will be dedicated to: 

• Providing one-on-one tutoring to children 
• Tutoring materials
• Expanding services, including increasing the number of children who receive tutoring four days per week 
• Strengthening our programs via Youth Program Quality Assessment tactics