ALUMNI PROFILE: Melissa Hill-Nance
Haunted by a Childhood Memory
At nearly 59 years old, Melissa Hill-Nance still hears the voice of her third-grade teacher—negativity haunting her for decades.
“I clearly remember I was in a pretty little ruffle dress, had my hair with ribbons,” she says. “That day, we had to write about what we wanted to be when we grew up. I was excited because I always wanted to be a writer.”
But her teacher dismissed her dream with cutting cruelty, “Think of something else, because people like you don’t have dreams like this. Find something you can do to support children.”
Melissa says that moment in the third grade changed everything. “That day, my inner child died. Her ambition melted. Even now, it still stings. I may have won the day I graduated—but I still doubt myself.”
Private Dreams, Public Doubts
Though cheerful and positive on the outside, Melissa admits she’s still silencing that inner critic.
She didn’t stop writing, but she stopped talking about being a writer. She wrote her thoughts down in private. “I didn’t think what I was writing would ever be good enough for anyone,” she said. “I knew school was important, but I stopped letting it be important to me. I didn’t give it my best even though I was a pretty smart student. I just didn’t want to feel like that little girl again.”
By her senior year of high school, she was close to graduating, needing just a few classes and one English credit. But she became a mother, and finishing school took a backseat.
Her parents wanted her to return to school, but she didn’t think it was fair to them to be raising a child from scratch again. “I was happy to be a mom. I am a prime example of making sacrifices for your children.”
She tried to return to school when her daughter was a toddler, but that program turned out to be fraudulent and unaccredited. “It was a second gut punch. I just felt DONE with school. Why even try? I could still hear that teacher in my mind.”
Life, Loss, and Learning to Read Again
Despite setbacks, Melissa found success in her career through certifications and on-the-job training. “It was a blessing that I got in. I wasn’t always qualified, but I worked hard.”
Then came another unexpected turn. “I got really sick—for a long time. I realized my kids had graduated, but I could no longer read. I was embarrassed to tell my family. I couldn’t put words together anymore.”
The woman who once taught her niece to read suddenly found herself relearning the basics.
“Driving her to school one day, I told her Auntie can’t remember how to sound out the syllables. And to my surprise, she said, ‘That’s easy! I’ll teach you the way you taught me.’ We worked on ‘See it, Say it, Spell it’ together.”
A Chance Encounter Leads to Seeds. Twice.
Like many Seeds of Literacy students, Melissa heard about the program through a friend.
But the placement test overwhelmed her.
“I took that TABE [test of adult basic education] for placement, and I felt like it was a foreign language. It was worse than I realized,” she admits. “I was bawling when I left. I couldn’t even explain it. The bruised little girl came back out. After years of being told I couldn’t, and then years of being sick, the flood gates had opened.”
Her sister—a teacher—refused to let her give up. “Don’t let this stop you, sis. This is your time. This is your opportunity. Take it.”
Melissa began attending Seeds in one of its original church basement locations. Life got in the way again (along with a few parking tickets), and she paused her education once more.
But fate intervened. A few months later, she ran into the same friend who had first referred her—and learned about the classroom at Seeds West.
“This. Is. Home.”
“When I walked in the door at Seeds West, I felt like this is where I belong. I already knew a lot of people in the room. It felt good. In that moment, I realized—I could really do this.”
She was still embarrassed to let people know what she knew or didn’t know, and often worked by herself. One day, she found she really needed help. She gathered up the courage and shyly asked (then Site Coordinator) Chris Richards if he could help her.
“He didn’t hesitate! He cheerily asked what I needed. But as I described what I needed to know, I figured it out on my own. And you know what? The look he gave me was a proud dad! He fist-pumped me and we still do that today.”
Another staffer, Billy Hallal, peeked over her shoulder at what she was writing. Though shy at first, she confided her dream of being a writer. Billy, a writer himself, encouraged her by starting a writing club.
“I might’ve missed class, but I was ALWAYS at writing club,” she says. “He gave us an assignment and submitted our work to a magazine.”
Melissa was published—for the first time.
Seeds, Support, and Self-Belief
With encouragement from staff like Todd Seabrook acting as her personal and persistent hype squad, Melissa stayed focused.
“No one at Seeds had mean intentions. They pushed me like caring parents. Chris. Billy. Todd. The tutors. The entire team, the people downstairs. Everyone makes you feel special. Even the security guard encouraged me every time I walked in—and let me use his parking spot.”
When COVID struck, she struggled to get involved with online learning. “I was at home. And at home, family came first. But I had a tutor that made me open my eyes and see things differently.”
“He told me, ‘Two hours belong to you. We can love our families, but it’s okay to love ourselves too.’ Those words changed everything.”
A Final Push—and a Cap and Gown
But once again, life got in the way. When her mother was diagnosed with cancer, Melissa temporarily traded tutoring for being with mom at treatment. Every day, they passed Seeds West on the way.
“My mom would see me looking at those signs on the building. She knew I wanted to go back. She knew if I went back—it would be to finish. I wanted her to see me graduate.”
And she did.
Melissa returned, took her placement test, and this time, everyone knew she was ready—even if she didn’t believe it yet.
With growing confidence, she became a Student Ambassador and shared her story with prospective students, tutors—and even Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb.
“Everyone at Seeds helps you to share your story. Because your story makes you, it doesn’t have to break you. And I started to realize how much my story could help others get involved at Seeds. I was all in.”
“I may have dragged my feet about graduating,” she laughs. “I didn’t want to stop coming to Seeds!”
But she knew it was time. She owed it to herself and to her family to finish what she started.
Graduation and Beyond
“My brother is my hero,” she says. “He was shot in the head at just 7 years old. The injury affected his ability to succeed in school. He never complained. He told me to finish school for both of us.”
With her husband, a sister, a son, her daughter, son-in-law and a few grandkids in tow, Melissa put on her cap and gown and graduated from Seeds in the Class of 2025. The rest of her family streamed the event from home.
What’s Next?
Melissa plans to enroll in college, taking writing and art classes to continue her creative journey. “I’ve got all these ideas in me, and I want to open all that back up. I’ve got books in me.”
In the meantime, she’s creating artwork and writing pieces for a friend’s wedding and enjoying time with her family.
Melissa is done listening to the voice that once told her she couldn’t.
She’s a published writer. A graduate. A future college student. And an inspiration. “Seeds of Literacy is a program that should never end,” she says. “This program needs to be around forever to keep helping people.”
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