The Tuscaloosa Premier 1000, an initiative that donates funds raised by University of Alabama students to local nonprofits, announced that it would award $4,200 to The House Tuscaloosa in an event held on Friday. The event was Tuscaloosa Premier 1000’s first community award to a nonprofit organization.
Laney Maxey, director of The House Tuscaloosa, and Zachary Goldman, the co-director of TP1K, were present to announce the donation.
Tuscaloosa Premier 1000 was founded over a year ago as a way for UA students and the community to pool funds that are gifted to support nonprofits in the community.
“The nonprofit was able to get the amount of donations from students and faculty at The University of Alabama, other nonprofits and people they knew personally,” Goldman said. “It’s not about how much money we can make, but the impact that can be made and giving it into the programs that need the most funding.”
Tuscaloosa Premier 1000 met with University officials — including Samory Pruitt, the vice president of the division of community affairs; Bob Pierce, the vice president for advancement; and Catherine Randall, former director of Alabama Girls State — to discuss the process of reaching out to other community nonprofits.
The House Tuscaloosa was founded six years ago as a literacy center and bookstore. Since then, it has partnered with the Blackburn Institute to develop a book club for middle and high school students, participated in the annual Tuscaloosa City Schools “Battle of the Books,” and fostered an after school program for middle schoolers.
Maxey said The House is attempting to make itself accessible to the community and is used during the weekends with volunteer groups, renting rooms and providing meals for middle schoolers.
According to Maxey, the program was cut from receiving federal grants after Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 to freeze federal funding. The House Tuscaloosa now relies on state grants and local donations from the community.
“With an unknown certainty of when The House would open up again and receive payment, students said ‘we’ll do it, we’ll continue working’ and they did,” Maxey said. “The state does not give nonprofits grants until the program has been established for three years. It is understandable to prevent scams, but it’s hard the first three years.”
Tuscaloosa Premier 1000 is in the process of setting up further dates on connecting with other local volunteers to explore ways to support nonprofit organizations like The House Tuscaloosa and raise money to make more donations in the future.
Editor’s note: This story was updated March 2 to correct an error. The fundraising organization’s name is “Tuscaloosa Premier 1000,” not “Tuscaloosa Premier 1000k.”
