The Boys & Club Center of Lumberton, formally known as the boys and girls club, partnered with UNITE Education Foundation, Inc. to address the issue of illiteracy in our youth. The founders of both organizations recognize that there are underserved children in our community. We’ve come together do what we could do in our power to bridge that gap.

Members of UNITE Education Foundation created “Foundations Academy” because they felt someone should be taking the time to build foundational skills in struggling readers. Too often children are being passed along without having the basic skills they need to be successful. Data does show that retention can affect a childs confidence thus indirectly hindering thier development. However, helping a child read can do so much more. The federal government puts so much pressure on educational systems to produce sufficient data in order to recieve funding that by default their focus becomes more on meeting goals then meeting needs. We are here to catch the children who fall in the crack.

We understand how important basic reading skills are. Science tells us that helping a student learn how to read will have monumental effects on who that child will become in the future. Data shows that reading:

• increases a childs vocabulary

• improves their confidence

• reduces stress

• fights depression

• enhances imagination/creativity

• improves thier grammer and writings skills

and so much more. Statistically Lumberton is the 10th least educated small city in the US based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Community Survey. Lumberton is also considered the 3rd most dangerous city in the US based on our crime rate in relation to our population. We have graduated to 3rd in the the last few years because in 2017 we were #1. A program like this could educate a child and break the cycle of poverty that 31.5% (approximately 1 of 3) of the people in this city struggle with. Poverty is directly related to crime. Allowing a child an opportunity at a better education can change their lives and the lives of generations to come.