A Mott Haven grassroots group is one of two citywide to win a prestigious and highly competitive urban design award that will help them transform a former drug rehab clinic into a community center.

The “No Child Left Behind” Act, established by the Bush administration in 2002, stated that all students should have equal access to a high quality education. But in the Bronx, where the number of residents who speak English “not well” or “not at all” has risen by about 15 percent to over 312,000 since 1990, language is a significant barrier to achieving that goal.