How one nonprofit is strengthening early learning, investing in Fairfield education + more

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Because education is the cornerstone of individual and community success, United Way of Central Alabama (UWCA) is actively working to ensure students in the Greater Birmingham Area are receiving an education that will prepare them for college, career and life.

Keep reading to learn how UWCA is taking action by investing in childcare centers, partnering with local schools and more.

1. Investing over $100K in local childcare centers

According to UWCA, access to early-learning facilities is crucial due to the long-lasting impact it can have on children’s educational achievement as they age.

UWCA’s new initiative, the Early Learning Acceleration Institute (ELAI), supports childcare providers by helping increase their capacity to offer high-quality early-learning programs.

Thanks to ELAI, each of the following four childcare centers in Central Alabama has been awarded $25,000 to build and furnish new classrooms, which will create space for a total of up to 81 additional students:

• Foundations Early Learning Center, Fairfield
• New Beginning Child Development Center, Birmingham
• New Horizon Academy, Birmingham
• Jasper Area Family Services Center, Jasper

“These facilities give parents the opportunity to provide their children with a high-quality learning environment that fits the social, emotional and cognitive needs of their children.

We want more parents to be able to go to work and know that their child is at a place that is safe and is going to give them the building blocks that they need to succeed.”

Katrina Watson, Senior Vice President of Community Impact, UWCA

The next round of ELAI grant applications are open and will be accepted February 2-March 1.

2. Partnering with Fairfield City Schools

In addition to offering strong education and resources, schools can bring together many partners to provide a variety of opportunities to children, families and communities.

In 2023, UWCA launched an initiative with Fairfield City Schools to maximize accessibility to services and solutions that United Way and its community partners can provide to families throughout the city.

Known as the Community Schools model (a strategy of the U.S. Department of Education), this initiative uses school properties as physical hubs for a range of services, in addition to education, to address the needs of the entire community.

“We engaged with more than 90 community members—including the mayor, superintendent of the schools, parents, teachers and residents—to find out what needs they have and where they need additional resources.”

Katrina Watson, Senior Vice President of Community Impact, UWCA

After listening to the Fairfield community, United Way collaboratively identified five priority areas:

• Behavioral health and social support
• College and career readiness
• Financial literacy
• Mentoring and tutoring
• On-site vision, dental, medical and maternal health services

UWCA’s Board of Directors has invested $1.5 million to make the plan a reality while also being awarded an additional $2.5 million grant from the Department of Education in support of the program. United Way already has two staff members working in Fairfield and two more will be hired so that each of the system’s four schools will have its own dedicated service coordinator.

3. Providing tutoring in Birmingham City Schools

UWCA also partners with Birmingham City Schools to provide intensive tutoring from students of surrounding colleges and universities.

One hundred student tutors come from schools including:

• Birmingham-Southern College
• Jefferson State Community College
• Lawson State Community College 
• Miles College
• Samford University
• UAB

By linking tutors with students, this program has supported the efforts of Birmingham City Schools to erase COVID-related learning loss and has helped to improve 3rd grade reading proficiency from 18% to 29% since 2020.

“We are grateful to work with Birmingham City teachers, principals, counselors and staff in their essential work of helping students grasp concepts and apply what they are learning. The tutoring program has proven results, with third-party evaluation showing that students who receive tutoring perform better than students who don’t.”

Katrina Watson, Senior Vice President of Community Impact, UWCA

Learn more about all that UWCA is doing and how you can get involved.

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