“Aable — Pronunciation: ‘A-b&l’; Function: adjective; 1. a. Having sufficient power, skill, or resources to accomplish an object b. Susceptible to action or treatment; 2. Marked by intelligence, knowledge, skill or competence.”

It may be a small word among the thousands in Webster’s Dictionary, but “able” is an important one — especially here in Lawrence County where an aptly named program lives up to the word in more ways than one.

The Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) program is a free program offered by three centers in the area: the Workforce Development Resource Center in Ironton, the Collins Career Center in Getaway and the Chesapeake Community Center.

The program’s goal is to help students prepare for their General Equivalency Diploma or improve on a variety of basic educational skills.

While it certainly does these things, it truly helps the individuals become “able” to make a better life for themselves.

Leadership at all three centers deserves tremendous praise for their work and dedication in making this valuable resource available in the community.

It may be a relatively new creation, but it is certain to change countless lives in future years as more people become aware of the program and take advantage of it.

All members of the ABLE staff also deserves credit for their hard work in helping these students meet this challenge and overcome these obstacles in their lives.

The entire community should show its support for these programs and urge those in need to take advantage of these opportunities that could truly help shape someone’s life.

It is never to late to continue learning in life, and it is never too late to go back and correct a past mistake.

None of us can rewrite the past, but each of us has the ability to change the future.

The ABLE program has certainly lived up to its name and “en-ABLE-d” its students to have a chance at a brighter future.