Annual House Tour to benefit summer learning
In its 64th year, the Independent Presbyterian Church (IPC) Holiday House Tour has long been part of Birmingham’s holiday festivities. This year, five homes will be featured in addition to the historic church. Stunning architecture, elegant decor and striking style have always graced the tour, but have you ever wondered about the tour’s mission other than its aesthetics?
Tickets include access to all five tour homes plus the church and also help fund the Summer Learning Program (SLP) at the Children’s Fresh Air Farm, a mission for IPC since its inception in 1923.
The Summer Learning Program costs $150,000 and uses the funds to addresses challenges faced by disadvantaged children, including summer learning loss and nutritional deficiencies. The program nurtures approximately 80 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders with a mixture of academics, enrichment, physical education and spiritual development.
SLP campers are living in poverty. For six weeks during the summer, certified teachers give academic instruction in the morning, and supervise children as they rotate through enrichment activities in the afternoon. Each day of the program, children are provided transportation from their neighborhoods and given two meals and a snack.
“The children we are serving, all living in poverty, are at a very real risk of losing grade level skills during the summer. So, by the time they get to high school, they could be three grade levels behind,” said Gini Williams, director of the program. “Standardized tests from our program show that the average gain was three months progress in grade-level skills of math and reading. Considering that typical summer learning loss is one to two months, these students will enter the fall term far ahead of where they would have been without the program.”
In order to further this cause, the house tour will feature the following locations:
- IPC Sanctuary and Parlor, 3100 Highland Avenue
- Louise and John Beard, 2820 Stratford Road
- Maggie and Will Brooke, 2500 Lanark Road
- Rita and James Dixon, 11 Clarendon Road
- Vicki and Marvin Perry, 1621 Lanark Place
- Staci and Ben Thompson, 2701 Argyle Road
Tickets, $20, go on sale beginning Dec. 1 and can be purchased by calling the church at 933-1830, visiting ipc-usa.org or by stopping by the church reception desk during business hours. Tickets may also be purchased at the homes and at the church during the tour. Shuttle parking for the homes in the English Village area will be available at the Junior League of Birmingham building located at 2212 20th Ave. South.
IPC Holiday House Tour
Dec. 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Dec. 15, 1-5 p.m.
$20