Project 71: Tiny Tots Take Off - Charlotte, NC

In 2013, Charlotte ranked dead last in economic mobility among 50 major U.S. cities. This meant that children born into poverty here had the lowest chance in the nation of escaping it. Since then, leaders and nonprofits have worked tirelessly to change the story. By 2024, Charlotte had climbed to 38th place. But the gap remains wide, and opportunities for the city’s youngest learners are still limited.

Research shows the critical link between early education, later academic success, and life outcomes. This makes it clear that an education gap is creating a generational challenge in Charlotte.

For the first time, we are partnering with Freedom Communities, a Charlotte-based nonprofit dedicated to disrupting the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Focusing on the Freedom Drive Corridor, they work to transform an underserved community into a place where families can thrive. One of the greatest needs they identified was access to early childhood education. In 2019, the area was considered a childcare desert, with 5.6 children under the age of three competing for every available slot. At one local school, more than 8 in 10 third graders could not read at grade level.

To meet this need, Freedom Communities partnered with Bright Future Learning Center, whose students have consistently become some of the strongest readers in local schools. Together, they converted a former church into the Tuck Opportunity Hub, an expanded learning site now providing 77 new slots for infants and toddlers.

Through Project 71: Tiny Tots Take Off, our giving community will furnish three classrooms with child-sized tables, chairs, toys, and age-appropriate learning materials for 37 infants and toddlers. By outfitting these spaces, we’re equipping tiny tots for success today while laying the foundation for futures brighter than their circumstances ever allowed.

Join us and help Charlotte’s tiniest learners take off toward lives full of possibility.