News & Events

PRESS RELEASE

FROM: Communities In Schools – Bay Area
RE: Grant Award for Program Expansion
DATE: February 15, 2019
CONTACT: Peter Wuenschel | peterw@cisba.org | 281.486.6698

Communities In Schools Announces Challenge Schools Winners
 Recipients Granted Nearly $13 Million to Address Student Achievement Gap
Communities In Schools – Bay Area to Receive $715,214 in Grant Funds to Expand Services in Dickinson

Houston, TX. – February 15, 2019 - Communities In Schools (CIS), the national organization that empowers at-risk students to stay in school and on a path to a brighter future, today announced the CIS affiliates that will share $13 million in grant funding to support students in 23 communities across 11 states.    

The winning affiliates were selected in a competitive grant process funded through a multimillion-dollar donation by AbbVie, a research-based global biopharmaceutical company. Recipients were chosen based on their ability to improve graduation rates, reduce chronic absenteeism, and increase college and career readiness for students in kindergarten through grade 12, especially in high-poverty neighborhoods.

Across the country, 94,300 students from 127 schools will be supported with the grant funds. Locally, Communities In Schools – Bay Area will be expanding into 7 Dickinson ISD campuses, for a total of 14 campuses receiving school-based programming. Over the 3-year project period, an additional 4,600 Dickinson students will benefit from Communities In Schools – Bay Area services. Communities In Schools – Bay Area will be seeking funds to match AbbVie's investment to sustain this accelerated growth.

The grant winners include Communities In Schools affiliates or state offices in:

• Austin, Texas
  Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C.
  Georgia
  Houston, Texas
  Indiana
  Lehigh Valley, Pa.
  Memphis, Tenn.  
  Nevada
  New Orleans, LA
  North Texas (in collaboration with Fort Worth, Texas
  West Palm Beach, Fla.
  San Antonio, Texas
  South King Co Alliance - Kent, Wash., Renton, Wash., and Federal Way, Wash.
  Virginia

“Every day, we work inside schools helping kids who come to school hungry, homeless, lacking medical care or needing emotional support,” said Dr. Peter Wuenschel, Communities In Schools – Bay Area Executive Director. “This major investment by Communities In Schools National and AbbVie will allow us to accelerate that work in our community and ensure more kids have a brighter future.” 

The Challenge Schools winners are receiving support under a grant from AbbVie. In November, AbbVie announced a total donation of $30 million to the Communities In Schools National Office to provide essential support services to underserved children. This investment is the largest single corporate donation Communities In Schools has received in its 40-year history. The remaining support from the AbbVie grant is going to students in 16 high-need Chicago Public Schools.

 “We believe that nothing is more important than a foundation in education, and Communities In Schools has dedicated over 40 years to making a high school diploma a reality for millions of students,” said Laura Schumacher, vice chairman, external affairs and chief legal officer, AbbVie. “We choose to work with CIS because their programs work, and they can reach our shared ambition to give youth across the country the confidence and tools they need to succeed.”

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About Communities In Schools – Bay Area
​Communities In Schools – Bay Area is part of the nation’s largest organization dedicated to empowering at-risk students to stay in school and on a path to a brighter future. Working directly inside 16 Dickinson and Clear Creek ISD schools in Texas, we connect kids to caring adults and community resources designed to help them succeed. We do whatever it takes to ensure that all kids—regardless of the challenges they may face—have what they need to realize their potential. For more information visit www.cisba.org.

About AbbVie
​AbbVie is a global, research and development-based biopharmaceutical company committed to developing innovative advanced therapies for some of the world’s most complex and critical conditions. The company’s mission is to use its expertise, dedicated people and unique approach to innovation to markedly improve treatments across four primary therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, virology and neuroscience. In more than 75 countries, AbbVie employees are working every day to advance health solutions for people around the world. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.