An estimated 35 languages are spoken in Howard County, leaving many students eager for help to bolster their English speaking skills and acclimate to the culture.
FIRN, a nonprofit that provides resources for foreign-born residents, recently was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Comcast Foundation to support its Club LEAP after-school program for non-English speaking families in the county. The grant will be distributed in two annual installments of $10,000.
“The program just continues to grow as the foreign population in Howard grows,” said Jennifer Blake, executive director of FIRN.
Foreign-born residents make up about 16 percent of the county’s population, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The funds for the $40,000 annual program will help the nonprofit with recruiting and training volunteers in the schools.
Club LEAP, which started in 2003 to provide additional support to the school system’s English Speakers of Other Languages program, now has 40 volunteers who logged 1,400 hours this past year helping 100 students in 11 public schools.
“We leverage funds with the love and time from the people in the community. It really is a labor of love,” said Blake.
