Impact Alabama collaborates with colleges, universities, and communities throughout the state to develop and implement substantive service-learning projects designed to engage students in addressing human and community needs and enhance students’ senses of social and civic responsibility. In six short years, Impact Alabama has grown to be a nationally recognized, award-winning organization with a full-time staff of thirty incredibly talented college graduates.

Partnering with 25 universities and colleges throughout Alabama, including UAB, Samford University, Cumberland School of Law, Birmingham-Southern College, and The University of Alabama, we have engaged more than 3,000 college and graduate students, serving more than 105,000 families across our state. FocusFirst provides high-tech, free vision screenings to low-income preschool-aged children.

Since 2004, 2,000 college students and staff have screened more than 100,000 children in all 67 counties, with approximately 11% of the children failing the screenings and receiving subsidized follow-up care through our partner Sight Savers America. SaveFirst provides free tax preparation services and opportunities for economic improvement to low-income, working families. Since 2006, SaveFirst has trained over 1,000 students who have prepared tax returns for 8,000 working families—helping them claim $14.3 million in refunds and save $2 million in commercial preparation fees.

CollegeFirst offers a high-level Summer Advanced Placement Institute for high school students preparing to take rigorous, college-level AP courses in their high schools. In its first year (June 2010), 41 trained college students provided academic instruction in Chemistry, Biology, and Pre-Calculus to 125 high school students from five school systems in Alabama.

SpeakFirst enriches the academic experience of gifted students from Birmingham’s public high schools through participation in an “all-star” debate team. Our first three graduating classes (2008-10) of 16 seniors earned more than $2.5 million in scholarships.