Center receives $65,000 grant

The Barbara Bush Foundation recently announced it has awarded a $65,000 grant to the District 214 Community Education Women's and Children Center, located at 2121 S. Goebbert Road, Arlington Heights, to fund the development of the Women's and Children Center.

The Women's and Children Center is one of 10 grant recipients chosen from nearly 400 applications.

The Women's and Children Center serves Latinas with very limited English and basic skills, as well as their children. The goal of the program is to educate the women to become economically independent and to help them become their children's first and most important teacher.

Alba Pride, coordinator of the Women's and Children Center, said, "We are thrilled. This award allows the women and their children to continue the learning process for another year."

Since its inception in 1989, the Foundation has awarded more than $30 million to more than 700 family literacy programs in 49 different states and our nation's capital.

Former First Lady Barbara Bush believes that parents who are able to read, write and comprehend can get better jobs, improve their families' lives and participate more fully in their communities as well. She states that the programs the Foundation funds must provide literacy instruction for parents as well as their children.

For more information about the Women's Center, call (847) 718-7722 or (847) 718-7911.