Meet Alliance Center for Education for September's #SpotlightOnCLT
Meet the Alliance Center for Education for September’s #SpotlightOnCLT Early Childhood Education
This month, we’re raising awareness about the health and learning of children ages birth to five. SHARE Charlotte has more than 45 early childhood education nonprofit organizations on our site. Read our #SpotlightOnCLT Early Childhood Education Guide to Nonprofits here.
This month’s presenting nonprofit partner helping us highlight Early Childhood Education is Alliance Center for Education (AC4Ed), Charlotte’s largest nonprofit provider of early childhood education programming. SHARE Charlotte got the chance to sit down with AC4Ed to learn more about what they do. We share their story below!
September is SHARE Charlotte’s #SpotlightOnCLT Early Childhood Education Month. Could you share with Charlotte why you are excited to share your story and partner with us to help amplify Charlotte nonprofits in the early childhood education cause?
We are excited to partner for September Spotlight to share our work in Early Childhood Education. As Charlotte’s largest nonprofit provider of early childhood education services, all our programs and services are offered at no cost to eligible families. We serve more than 800 families annually in our Early Head Start, Head Start, Pre-K and afterschool programs in 10 locations throughout Charlotte.
Our success is dependent on the many people who come together to ensure the best for the children and families we are privileged to serve. We thank each of our staff, families, volunteers, partners and members of our community who are committed to making the future brighter for children in our area. It is because of you that we are able to support these families and ensure students have what they need to be successful in school and life.
Shared investment in our success is critical to ensuring the children and families in Mecklenburg County have the tools and resources they need to be the best version of themselves. We strive to build a love of learning that lasts a lifetime, helping shape the next generation of leaders.
Let’s share with Charlotte! What would you like them to know about the Alliance Center for Education?
Alliance Center for Education, affectionately known as AC4Ed, was formerly known as Bethlehem Center of Charlotte until a rebranding in 2020. Bethlehem Center was founded in 1940 by the United Methodist Women in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Charlotte to provide much-needed childcare and support to mothers during World War II.
This support was greatly needed and expanded over the next several years. In 1956, services expanded into the Southside, Brookhill, and Wilmore Communities, offering Charlotte’s first free kindergarten programs, activities for school-age children and other family enrichment services. Today, AC4Ed operates in 10 Center locations across Charlotte, serving more than 800 families annually.
Our mission is to provide high quality education and support for children in need through partnership with their families. Our vision is to positively affect the future of children at risk by improving their economic mobility through education. Additionally, our guiding statement is that we hope to create a world where a family’s income does not determine a child’s outcome. This individualized approach and focus on relationship-building with our children and their families has positively impacted thousands of children over the years.
We still treasure our strong, continued relationship with the United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Women, now known as the United Women in Faith. We are grateful for their dedication and passion for serving communities in need.
Our 85th anniversary will be in 2025, and we are excited! It is truly monumental that we have helped change the trajectory of lives for more than eight decades. Each life changed and supported is a family made stronger, and we are proud to have helped be a part of their journey. Every partner, donor, sponsor, friend, family, employee, and student are part of our shared fabric and we couldn’t be prouder to have been part of the story in Charlotte for 85 years.
We love volunteers! If someone were to volunteer with AC4Ed, what would that look like and what kind of impact does that have on your organization?
There are many volunteer opportunities with AC4Ed! We welcome volunteers to join us in the classroom reading to students and providing assistance with center events and activities. We also welcome groups to join us to do beautification projects on our playgrounds and centers. We love to welcome volunteers into our centers and can work with people, groups, businesses, civic groups and others to build meaningful volunteering opportunities. If interested in volunteering, please reach out to rhiannon@ac4ed.org.
We love a good event! Do you have any upcoming events you would like us to share?
Yes! On Monday, November 18, we are hosting our 25th annual golf tournament at Pine Island Country Club. In honor of the 25th anniversary, we have named the tournament in honor of one of its founders, Mr. Jim Langstaff. Mr. Langstaff has been a volunteer with the agency since the 1970s and has served in a number of roles, including starting this tournament in 1999. We are grateful to the many teams and players who have supported this tournament over the years, and sponsorships and team entries are now open on our website here: https://www.ac4ed.org/25golftournament
How can Charlotteans find you, apply, get help, or support you? What is it that you need most, now?
You can find all things AC4Ed at ac4ed.org. We are always hiring passionate professionals, and open positions can be found on our careers page. Visit our Get Involved section on our website for more information on the many ways you can partner with us.
We are also looking for Board Members who want to help change the lives of children and families in Charlotte. If interested in serving, please reach out to Katie@ac4ed.org.
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We are so grateful to the Alliance Center for Education as our September #SpotlightOnCLT featured partner. As the featured sponsor, they are helping to uplift the voice of all nonprofits in the Early Childhood Education cause.