More than 40 percent of adult Canadians have difficulty with reading, writing and using numbers. Constance Hansey is one of that 40 percent but she's doing something to change that … big time.

At some level Constance always knew she had a problem but it became painfully clear when her daughter came to her for help with spelling.

"I would know a word was spelled incorrectly," she says, "but I couldn't check it in a dictionary because I couldn't connect the sounds to letters.

Soon she began to see that her daughter had a similar problem. "That's when I realized that if I was going to help her, I'd have to admit to myself and others that I had a literacy problem and then do something about it." Constance found the courage to face her problem head on. Many would have found some way to avoid it.

With help from her daughter's school, Constance found her way to a literacy program and a tutor. They started with the basics, studying phonetics, the 45 sounds in the English language and the 29 spelling rules.

What she learns, she reviews with her daughter so they are learning together.

Constance's daughter had a speech problem a couple of years ago and it took 8 months of battling to get help. "That taught me that unless I stood up for her, nothing would change," she says.

"And the more I stood up for her, the more I realized I was standing up for myself too."

Since that time, both are progressing well. Her daughter, a Grade 4 student, has learned to ask for help if she doesn't understand. Her improved speech has made that easier and since she is strong in math, she helps the kids who have math problems and they help her with spelling and English.

"Now even if she's sick, she still wants to go to school," Constance says with a smile. "She doesn't want to miss anything. Last year, she'd find any excuse not to go."

Her son, by the way, is in Grade 12 and plans on going to university to study computer technology.

Speaking about computers, Constance is a bit of a whiz herself. She's been working with computers ever since her family got its first Commodore 64. She has helped many of the teachers at her daughter's school learn more about computers and she is also a volunteer supervisor in the student computer lab.

As part of their commitment to the community, Constance and her family help the school and their literacy program to distribute recycled computers to needy and deserving families. They also organize a paper-recycling program that has raised $2,200 for the school.

"We desperately need more donated computers not only for families but also in our school computer lab," she points out, "and you can get a tax receipt when you donate them."

What advice does our Neighbourhood Hero have for others who have a literacy problem? First admit to yourself that you have a problem, she says, and then commit to doing something about it. Stand up for yourself. Don't wait for others. Start today. Her other suggestion is to become a volunteer. "Volunteering is where I first learned that, literacy problem or not, I could still make a difference. You don't have to be teacher smart," she says, "all you have to be is heart smart."

And what about the future?

"Down the road, I want to go back to school and redo my Grades 11 and 12 and if there is any way possible, I want to become a teacher." Those who know her know she already is one. Perhaps she'll just teach something different.