Grants fuel Village programs and student success

The Center for Access & Success is celebrating a series of recent grants that will directly benefit students and families engaged in the It Takes a Village (ITAV) family of programs.

• Dollar General provided $3,000 to create 100 summer reading kits, each filled with books to help students continue their growth and learning over the extended break.
• The Alamance Community Foundation contributed $5,000 to support Engineering in the Village, an innovative outreach initiative led by Sirena Hargrove-Leak and Blake Hament. This funding will sustain the program through the 2025–26 school year, providing hands-on STEM learning experiences for students.
• A second award from Dollar General for $4,000 will make possible the annual end-of-semester Book Bash, where ITAV tutoring students receive new books to take home and enjoy.
• Impact Alamance granted $6,000 to purchase two Unicom Mini Interpretation Systems, which will ensure families can fully engage in parent workshops, information sessions, and focus groups. By breaking down language barriers, these systems will make parent programs more inclusive and accessible for all participants.
• LabCorp awarded $7,376, further supporting Engineering in the Village for the 2025–26 school year and expanding opportunities for students to explore engineering concepts in engaging, real-world contexts.

These grants were secured through the collaborative efforts of the Center’s team, including the leadership of Laura Clemmons, assistant director of the Center for Access & Success and lead for the It Takes a Village programs, and Sydney Gilbert, family engagement, fundraising, and evaluation coordinator, who worked together to develop the successful grant applications.

Together, these awards strengthen the mission of ITAV: fostering a love of learning, expanding access to educational resources, and building connections between students, families, and the broader community.