FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 28, 2023
Better Basics celebrates 30 years of impact in Central Alabama
The leading education non-profit will host community partners, educators, and volunteers at 30th birthday celebration this Thursday
Local non-profit Better Basics will commemorate thirty years of advancing educational equity in Central Alabama at a birthday celebration on Thursday, Nov. 30. Better Basics staff and the Board of Directors will mark this special milestone with education advocates, teachers, volunteers, and community leaders, thanking them for their support in the growth of the organization and impact over the past three decades.
“Since 1993, Better Basics has been providing critical literacy support and resources in partnership with public schools,” said Catherine Goudreau, Executive Director of Better Basics. “With almost 30,000 children served last year, we are committed to ensuring all children in Central Alabama have access to the tools and resources they need to succeed in school and in life.”
Founded by local attorney John Glasser, Better Basics began by providing one-on-one literacy tutoring and books to 30 students in one East Lake school, Barrett Elementary. Thirty years later, Better Basics still serves Barrett Elementary and more than 30 additional school and pre-k sites.
Better Basics has expanded services to offer 13 unique programs, including reading and mathematics intervention, after-school and school-day enrichment programs reaching students from pre-K to high school. In the 2022-2023 school year, Better Basics reached 28,547 children.
The organization also leads extensive book distribution initiatives, including Birmingham Reads, and partners with local organizations to place free Book Nooks at community sites across Birmingham. In the 2022-23 school year, Better Basics distributed over 92,000 books. In 2016, Better Basics became the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library’s affiliate, delivering free books to children from birth to five years. Having reached generations of learners in the Birmingham area, Better Basics continues to make an impact in expanding literacy in our community.
“It’s how I learned to read,” says Lukeiyah Johnson, a Wenonah High School Senior and Birmingham Promise intern working at Better Basics. “I remember receiving the Dolly Parton Imagination Library books in the mail as a child. I especially loved one of the books about a grandpa and had my grandpa read that book with me so many times. It fueled my passion for reading. I love reading.”
Better Basics’ 30th birthday celebration will be a drop-in open house from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 30 at the Better Basics office, located at 1231 2nd Ave South. Guests will have the opportunity to shop the Better Basics Bookstore to purchase much-needed books for students and write notes of encouragement on bookmarks.
To learn more about Better Basics, visit www.BetterBasisc.org/thirty
Better Basics is a Birmingham, Alabama non-profit organization promoting children’s reading and mathematics literacy. Better Basics delivers a comprehensive range of research-based intervention and enrichment programs to children from birth to 18 years in Central Alabama through collaboration with public schools, partners, and community organizations in underserved areas. We also provide books and literacy outreach services directly to Birmingham communities. Better Basics is an agency of the United Way of Central Alabama.