Helping Kids Be Great
The Alabama Power Foundation believes that a good education is essential to continued growth and maintaining the quality of life in Alabama. In fact, education was one of the very first areas we funded when the Foundation was formed in 1989. Through the Alabama Education Initiative, we provided the seed money for ideas that ultimately led to 92 different educational programs across the state.
Today, while the Alabama Education Initiative is no longer active, we still support programs the initiative helped establish over a decade ago, but never stop searching for new and innovative organizations to help.
One area that is constantly underfunded in Alabama schools is in preparing new teachers to enter the classroom. The Alabama Power Foundation's New Teacher Grant program helps with this issue by awarding new public school teachers a grant for needed classroom materials and supplies. Read more+
Teach for America, a nationwide program that trains recent college graduates to teach in low income areas for two years, provides all children an excellent education regardless of their poverty level. A grant from the Alabama Power Foundation has made this program possible in the poorest parts of the state. Read more+
The Girls Engineering Conference at the McWane Science Center hosted 84 teenage girls from 34 schools where the girls were encouraged to pursue their passion for math and science and learned about their importance in everything from fashion to technology. Read more+
Building Better Communities
Community is a unifying element for the Alabama Power Foundation. Everything we do circles back to building better communities. Whether we support an educational initiative, a health-based one, or a program that brings a special event into a community, we believe that by helping people, we improve our communities and thereby the whole state.
In addition to this, we seek opportunities to provide early funding for a new program. A lead grant will spur more grants – and more grants will help change a community for the good, forever.
The Trails of Africa exhibit puts the Birmingham Zoo in the upper echelon of zoos in the United States and wouldn't have been possible without the support of leaders in our community and local companies pulling together to make it happen. This state-of-the-art facility is a great example of what's possible when we work together. Read more+
The Black Belt Community Foundation was officially established in 2005 by the combination of two groups working independently, but with common goals – to improve life and bring new opportunities to the Black Belt of Alabama. Read more+
Earlier this year, volunteers and community leaders beautified and dedicated new playground equipment at Roosevelt City Park as part of Operation Power Play. This is the second of three city parks to receive upgrades through the joint initiative of Alabama Power, the city of Birmingham, Birmingham Park and Recreation Board, the Citizens Advisory Board and Birmingham neighborhoods. Read more+
Bringing Health and Happiness
Healthy and happy people are key to a vibrant community. So, another important area of focus for the Alabama Power Foundation is health and human services.
We seek to support organizations that make health services accessible to everyone. This may be to ensure children have access to the help they need. Or to support people who are vulnerable to slipping through the system.
The Foundation also strives to assist organizations that serve as a resource for minorities and promote equality and inclusion in the state.
Oasis Counseling Center is set in two charming restored Victorian homes on Birmingham's south side and supports the emotional well-being of women and children with high-quality, affordable, mental health counseling to women who do not have adequate resources to obtain care from private practitioners. Read more+
The Family Place is an Alabama Power Company funded and supported facility adjacent to UAB in Birmingham that offers free lodging for medical visits on a first come, first serve basis. Recent upgrades to the facility were funded in a large part by APSO and Energizer efforts statewide. Read more+
Feeding The Creative Soul
Lives and communities are enriched through access to the arts and cultural events. We approach our support of arts and cultural organizations through two lenses.
First, we seek to aid organizations using arts and culture to improve their community. And second, we support groups bringing world-class arts and culture to all parts of the state.
Black Belt Treasures in Camden opened its doors in 2005 as a way for artists of the Black Belt region of Alabama to showcase their varied work and to become an economic development engine for this rural part of the state. Read more+
Journey Stories is a partnership between the Smithsonian Institute and the Alabama Humanities Foundation. The goal is to bring arts and the humanities into small towns that would otherwise not host such an event. Read more+
Protecting the Planet
Educating citizens about Alabama’s environment and supporting programs to improve it are very important to us. A clean, safe environment leads to a healthy and self-sustaining community.
The Foundation aids organizations and programs that work to improve the natural environment. These may be small neighborhood initiatives to revitalize a park or playground, or something on a state level to protect wildlife and our ecosystems.
The Fresh Water Land Trust strives to conserve the land and the watershed in the seven-county area around Birmingham. The work focuses on water quality, conservation, recreation and how waterways and communities are intertwined. Read more+