Many children as well as adults struggle with educational goals and may be looking for outside alternatives and assistance. Achieve Plant City is a nonprofit organization established by a middle school dropout who changed her own life through education and is paying it forward to help others achieve their educational goals. The organization has been providing services in Eastern Hillsborough County since 2011 under the support of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
“Achieve Plant City was established to help others achieve their dreams through education,” said Founder and Executive Director Angelica Ibarra. “I personally saw the transformation in my life and the lives of my children once I started gaining knowledge and after I realized the importance of literacy and education.”
The organization’s philosophy is that through education and support, all individuals can reach their potential. One of the most important programs offered is Adult Literacy, which includes English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes, General Education Development (GED) classes and basic computer skills instruction.
Achieve Plant City also offers child literacy programs, which include early childhood education for children ages 18 months to 5 years old and reading and homework assistance for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. This also includes parenting education with workshops that focus on supporting parents in their role as their child’s teacher and topics that strengthen the family unit.
Parents and children work together on literacy activities and parents are taught strategies for supporting literacy that they can reinforce at home. Before COVID-19, Achieve Plant City was serving up to 100 individuals each year.
“The families who attend our program enroll because they want better lives,” said Ibarra. “They want to be able to communicate with others and they want to be involved with their children’s education. They are hardworking individuals who are seeking to better themselves through literacy and who need the extra support to reach their goals.”
Achieve Plant City is in need of volunteers for the after-school program and the adult literacy program, and it also always welcomes donations that can help with school supplies and tutoring costs. It is located at 202 W. Reynolds St. in Plant City.
For more information about donations, volunteering or becoming part of this important program, visit www.achieveplantcity.org or call 752-4010.
