Arlington Academy of Hope will soon be REACH for Uganda
Dear REACH Friends and Supporters,
For those of you who were able to join us for our virtual Gala this past Thursday, you learned that the Arlington Academy of Hope is going to be making a major change by renaming the organization. We wanted to provide more information for all our supporters, so we can celebrate the work we have done and the work we will continue to do in the future.
When the Arlington Academy of Hope was founded in 2004, its primary purpose was to provide primary education to students in rural eastern Uganda at the Arlington Junior School. Our efforts expanded to secondary school, tertiary school, healthcare, and community development. Our reach has expanded beyond Arlington, Virginia and across the globe, finding partners, supporters, and allies who have only enriched and strengthened the work that we do.
Simply put, our name does not identify where we work, nor does it celebrate all of the areas that our sponsors generously support. Over the years we have seen the beginning of our Healthy Homes program, solar energy projects, school and clinic construction, and teacher training (just to name a few) blossom and grow into integral parts of our commitment to our Ugandan community. We have built partnerships with major donors like Segal Family Foundation and She’s the First. We have seen thousands of students who have gone through our model school program and developed connections to their sponsors across the world.
This is why we decided to rename the Arlington Academy of Hope to REACH for Uganda: Reach for Environment, Academics, Community Development and Health. It best reflects where we have come from, and, more importantly, where we are going. It honors how our sponsors, donors, partners, and our community in rural Uganda, have embraced and embodied the work that we do.
It has been an incredible journey so far, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds. Thank you for continuing to reach for the future.
Warm regards,
Dick Burk
Board President