This paper problematizes the role of caring in women's persistence in literacy programs. The paper draws from the author/researcher's doctoral research, a study of 10 mid-life multi-ethnic Adult Basic Education and English as a Second Language women learners and their lifelong experiences of literacy, schooling, and learning, both inside and outside of a Hawaii literacy program. It explains that since 7 out of the 10 women left the program within a year's time, the author/researcher felt compelled to focus on this issue. The women were interviewed, and their stories were developed in the form of both case study narratives and thematic analysis comparisons. The paper presents five case studies which reveal "caring" amidst the socio-historical and cultural changes taking place in the subjects' lives. A grounded theory approach was used to gain a holistic picture of the women learners' experiences over a life time and of the strategies, internal processes, and pre-conditions of their literacy and persistence experiences. Feminist theories of care were used to highlight the women's caring activities in their families and workplaces and the literacy program. Ethnographic methods were used to uncover the women's experiences with literacy, learning, and schooling. It concludes that literacy programs can help learners persist by paying attention to their histories, their relationships, and the deeper meanings of what they say. (Contains 97 references.) (BT)