Metro Detroit Literacy Organization Gets $1M Gift From Webber Foundation

DETROIT (AP) — A nonprofit in Metro Detroit has received $1 million from the Wayne and Joan Webber Foundation to help improve literacy for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The funding allows Beyond Basics to hire more tutors and continue growing even during school disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization said Wednesday.

The gift establishes the Webber Foundation as a Beyond Basics Legacy Partner and also brings the foundation's total investment supporting Beyond Basics' literacy efforts to $6 million since 2006.

"Wayne and Joan played a pivotal role in the development of our multisensory tutoring program," said Pamela Good, co-founder and chief executive of Southfield-based Beyond Basics. "They were among Beyond Basics' earliest supporters, and they have continued to step forward to facilitate our growth whenever a need arises."

The Beyond Basics program provides individualized reading plans for students for an hour a day, five days a week with trained tutors. Students improve their reading skills to their grade levels in about six weeks, the nonprofit said.

Students also will receive lessons about the life of Wayne Webber who owned W.W. Webber, Inc., a highway construction company. Members of the Webber Foundation will tour Beyond Basics classes and attend ceremonies once tutoring is completed.

The Clinton Township-based foundation seeks to provide access to quality healthcare, improve education for inner-city children, and provide food, clothing and shelter for the less fortunate.

"My aunt and uncle understood the critical role of literacy in a young person's life," foundation President Cynthia Webber Helisek said in a release. "The ability to read and comprehend the written word should be the foundation of education in every community."

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