Hill Hill Carter Nonprofit Spotlight:
Hill Hill Carter is a proud supporter of Impact Alabama, which is dedicated to developing substantive service-learning and leadership development projects for college students and recent college graduates. Impact Alabama was founded in 2004 as the state’s first nonprofit dedicated to developing substantive service-learning and leadership development projects for college students and recent college graduates. The mission is simple: to engage students and recent college graduates to address community needs, empowering a generation through collaborative efforts to promote change in the communities we serve. In 2016-17, Impact Alabama engaged 822 college students and 45 recent graduates to serve more than 57,000 families across Alabama as part of the most successful, state-based service-learning initiative in the nation.
Growth and Expansion:
Growing from a team of five in 2004 to more than sixty-five in 2018, Impact Alabama has quickly grown into the premier nonprofit destination for high-achieving students and graduates to make a difference in their communities.
As a celebration of its ten-year anniversary and after serving hundreds of thousands of families in all sixty-seven counties in Alabama, the decision was made to expand Impact Alabama to other states and communities.
Impact Alabama Initiatives:
FocusFirst:
Provides free vision screenings to children, ages six months to five years, in childcare centers across Alabama using high-tech, digital screening cameras. All children failing the screenings receive free follow-up care through Sight Savers America. Over 48,000 children were screened by FocusFirst in 2017 and just under 200 volunteers helped FocusFirst provide adequate vision care to these children.
SaveFirst:
Every tax season, many of Alabama’s hardest-working families rely on negligent and sometimes fraudulent tax preparers who cost our communities millions in exorbitant fees. SaveFirst trains college, graduate, and law students to provide free tax preparation services for low-income, working families. Just under 10,000 free tax returns were prepared for families in 2017 and families claimed over $15.5 million in tax refunds and saved over $3 million in fees. SaveFirst also had just under 600 volunteers in 2017 to help save families millions.
SpeakFirst:
SpeakFirst uses academic debate as a platform to support some of Birmingham’s most talented students and guides them on a path toward excellence in college. SpeakFirst has operated a program for high school students since 2004, and in 2013, it launched a Birmingham middle school debate league. Over $330,000 in scholarships were awarded to two SpeakFirst graduates in 2017 and juniors and seniors won one-half of high stakes debate rounds.
CollegeFirst:
Even the brightest students need guidance when preparing for college-level academics. CollegeFirst pairs talented college student mentors with high school students in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa to strengthen foundational concepts in preparation for the rigor of AP coursework in math, science, computer science, and English. Over 160 CollegeFirst students were completed this program in 2017 and just under 7,000 hours were spent in training courses.
For more information about Impact Alabama, please visit https://impactamerica.com/alabama/.