In April 2007, the Mollohan Foundation awarded the Laughlin Community Center a
$2,500 community outreach grant. Located in Wheeling, the Laughlin Community
Center is a non-profit organization that supports the various outreach activities
of the Laughlin Memorial Chapel, which opened 130 years ago. The grant will
be used to purchase books and materials for the 2007 Freedom Schools’ Integrated
Reading Curriculum.
The Laughlin Memorial Chapel and Community Center currently serves nearly 250
children. Most of these children come from poor and low-income families in the
urban core of Wheeling. A significant indicator of the families’ economic stress
is the high eligibility rate for the free/reduced school lunch program. Nearly
90% of children participating in programs during the 2004-2005 year qualified
for the free/reduced lunch program. To support these children, a number of
programs have been implemented to help them strive for educational successes.
The Laughlin Community Center held its inaugural Freedom School Program in 2005.
The Freedom Schools program is part of the Children’s Defense Fund’s Black Community
Crusade for Children. The program reflects the CDF’s mission to Leave No Child
Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a
Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with
the help of caring families and communities.
The Laughlin Community Center was renewed as a 2007 Freedom School. Again, the
Center will provide an Integrated Reading Curriculum. This curriculum includes
80 books and resources that are age-appropriate, encourage community involvement,
feature characters that persevere and achieve, and reflect the children’s own
images. In addition to the books, the curriculum includes teacher resource and
recreational materials to further expand the children’s learning experiences.
The Laughlin Community Center hopes to increase attendance in the Freedom School
and bring the total enrollment to 100 students. The Center will use the grant
funds for the purchase of books and materials that directly support the
Integrated Reading Curriculum for the 2007 Summer Freedom School.
For more information about the Laughlin Community Center, please contact Martha
Wright at 304.232.2630.
