The arts have much to say about community and, thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation, they have the chance to speak out loud and clear on the significance of the 50th anniversary of 1963, Birmingham’s seminal year in the nation’s civil rights movement.
The Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham, a longtime partner of the Community Foundation, received the grant and will work with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond and Urban Bush Women. According to Cultural Alliance Executive Director Buddy Palmer, the project is designed to help cultural organizations and working artists work in close collaboration with neighborhood-centered institutions to create artistic expressions focused on themes of human and civil rights, race, class and power.
Coming up later will be a week-long institute, organized by the Cultural Alliance. If you want to be part of that future institute, sign up now to attend a free introductory forum next weekend – May 18-19. Space is limited, so reserve your spot by contacting Nicole Goetsch by e-mail or by phone at 205-458-1393.
- Friday, May 18, 3-5 p.m. at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
- Saturday, May 19, 10 a.m.-noon at ArchitectureWorks or 2-4 p.m. at West End Public Library
Another special event – Dance for Every Body Workshop by Urban Bush Women – is set for May 19 from 5-7 p.m. at the Children’s Dance Foundation in Homewood.
YouthServe artists used their hands to form our logo on the table top
One day during spring vacation, YouthServe participants used their creativity to multiply one gift by a factor of three.
First there was the gift to The Nature Conservancy in Alabama of a sponsored table for the upcoming Earth Day celebration. One generous individual chose to benefit TNC with the original gift to this fundraising picnic. Then he doubled his impact by choosing to honor the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham with its decoration.
That’s where YouthServe comes in. We engaged their talented young men and women to make our table stand out among all those in Railroad Park for the April 22 event.
The finished product includes a very personal rendering of our “hands” logo, as the members of the YouthServe team placed their own handprints, one by one, on the center of the table top. With hands painted darker green to contrast with the bright surface, they placed their signature on this special gift to the community.
Join us at the local Earth Day picnic as we enjoy all the tables honoring so many great companies and organizations. And be sure to check out the work of YouthServe, signed and sealed as a triple win for one generous donor.
Community Foundation staff and donors dressed in jeans and wore gloves to work, as we joined forces to help build a new home for a survivor of the 2011 tornadoes that destroyed so much of our state. This was our chance to provide some direct service to one Pratt City woman and remember the many needs that remain.
We joined other volunteers on the Habitat for Humanity project March 1-3. While we were helping to rebuild one home, another wave of tornadoes brought destruction and death to Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia and north Alabama.
Workers were not discouraged by the news that more storms were coming. Instead, we were all more determined than ever to take action and make a difference in one person’s life.
That’s what we all want, isn’t it? With every gift we receive and every grant we make, we want to make a difference. And we know that when we work together, that difference can be even greater.
Thanks to Working Together days and the on-going Giving Together program, we can make a difference every day and forever at the Community Foundation. Contact Kathryn Corey to find out more.
Why do you do what you do? Trainers from Prevention Speaks asked that question on Feb. 22 as they worked with more than 30 representatives of the Jefferson County Department of Health and other participants of the Health Action Partnership — including the Community Foundation.
The topic was “story” and the challenge was to find the stories in each one of us that express the reasons and motivations for great work like an expanded greenway master plan, innovative ways to get to school, health education through radio soap operas and ordinances to create tobacco free places to live and safe streets to bike and walk along. All these are great outcomes of the Health Action Partnership through national programs, including the federal Communities Putting Prevention to Work and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Kids Healthy Communities.
What stories show the strength of this effort and provide the power the sustain them for the future? The group learned a lot about how to identify, organize and tell the stories that sometimes get buried under facts and figures or technical jargon.
If you’ve been listening to the stories shared by Champions for Health, you can look forward to hearing even more from this newly educated and inspired group. We want to hear your story too — about the mother whose child gets up 30 minutes earlier because she wants to catch the “Walking School Bus” or the announcement of the new name the greenway master plan created through Our One Mile.
Let us hear from you.
As you can see in the grants we make and the partnerships we seek, the Community Foundation is committed to strategies that help people lead healthy lives. We hear the people of our community say that is what they want, both in access to care and in changes to their environment that help us all make healthy choices.
Today at 2 p.m. and on Feb. 21 at 5 p.m., you can be part of two gatherings and show support for ways to help us all lead healthy lives.
Today, Feb. 15, the Public Safety Committee of the Birmingham City Council is holding a public hearing on a proposed Smokefree Air Ordinance which will strengthen the current law. The meeting is set to start at 2 p.m. in City Council Chambers at Birmingham City Hall, 710 North 20th Street downtown.
On Feb. 21, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., the Freshwater Land Trust, Health Action Partnership and Regions Bank invite everyone to join a celebration to unveil the Jefferson County Greenway Master Plan and announce the winner of the contest to name the greenway. This is part of Our One Mile, a community input process that allowed all of us to participate by highlighting our favorite sidewalks, paths and bike routes.
A lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes for both of these efforts and will continue as long as our community continues to push to become the healthiest place we can be. We hope you will join us in supporting these policy and planning efforts, or learn more about our efforts as part of the Health Action Partnership.
Did you attend one of the community meetings for Our One Mile or submit your ideas on-line? Do you wonder what happened to all those great ideas for the routes that you travel most often or the places you wish you could get to by foot or bicycle?
See the results on Tuesday, Feb. 21, when Regions Bank and the Freshwater Land Trust unveil the Our One Mile greenway master plan, along with the overall name for the system, also chosen out of so many submitted by people across our community.
Our One Mile is really OUR one mile, because this is the system that will help to guide the Freshwater Land Trust and others. It fits several important strategies for the Community Foundation, as we seek to expand and improve public green space in order to keep our communities are sustainable, livable and vibrant and as we work with a variety of initiatives through the Health Action Partnership so people can lead healthy lives.
Find out more about this special event, which starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Birmingham Museum of Art, or contact Heather Forbush for questions or to RSVP.
So you would rather use your phone to give? No problem. Thanks to a special partnership, you can make a gift of $10 (minus $1 processing fee).
To support tornado recovery through the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham on Alabama Gives Day, text CHANGE [space] CFGB to 84465 to give $10!*
Other nonprofit organizations participating in this great day of giving on Feb. 2 will have their own special code, so look for it and stretch yourself to make more than one gift during this 24-hour period.
Our thanks to all the partners who are making possible these many options for giving. Join us and be part of a truly special day for philanthropy in our generous state.
*$10.00 donation to Alabama Gives Day. Charges will appear on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your prepaid balance. All purchases must be authorized by account holder. Must be 18 years of age or have parental permission to participate. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Text STOP to 84465 to STOP. Text HELP to 84465 for HELP. Full Terms: mGive.org/T. Privacy Policy.
Erin Stephenson was the keynote speaker for the January meeting of the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 25, sharing good news about the work of the Community Foundation to drive positive change across the Birmingham region and especially in Shelby County.
Her “visual aid” was Ken Jackson, a longtime business leader in Hoover and Shelby County and an enthusiastic partner with the Community Foundation. Ken has long had an Advised Fund at the Community Foundation and recently made a gift of $250,000 to establish a Field of Interest Fund.
Working together like this — passionate and generous donor with experienced philanthropy expert — was more than just a good combination for a speech. It also represents the way we do business every day, seeking partners who share our vision of doing more together than anyone can do alone.
As Erin stressed, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham is not just one person’s foundation — like the Gates Foundation. The Community Foundation was created by and continues to be supported by a community of donors — some in the past and some, like Ken, very much still involved — who want to make the most of their giving by doing it together.
Erin welcomes questions at any time, or you can explore our website to find out more about how we work with donors to improve the life of our region.
How can you make a difference? When problems sound big, like the millions needed for tornado recovery, nobody thinks they can do anything with a small gift.
Everything the Community Foundation has been able to do came from people who gave whatever they could. If you bought a ticket to the Bama Rising concert or a T-shirt to mark that great event, you gave to tornado recovery. If you made a gift on line to one of our tornado funds, you helped somebody somewhere finish repairing or rebuilding their home. Together, hundreds of generous people have raised more than $3 million.
Now you have a special chance to give and join others in making a BIG difference. Take a look at this video about the change that even small change can make in our whole state on Feb. 2, the first-ever Alabama Gives Day. Together, even the coins in your pocket add up to something big, for tornado recovery and for all the great nonprofit organizations across our state.
February 2, 2012, will be a special day for nonprofit organizations across Alabama. Make sure your favorite charity has a chance to benefit on the first-ever Alabama Gives Day.
The Alabama Association of Nonprofits and the Alabama Broadcasters Association are conducting this 24-hour fu
ndraising extravaganza as a way to support all the nonprofit organizations that make our state special. If you work for a nonprofit organization, be sure to learn more on-line about how you can participate. If you are a donor with a favorite cause, be sure that organizations knows about this opportunity to jump-start the new year with a special day of giving.
Organizations have until January 15, 2012, to fill out the forms and provide the information needed. Even in this busy holiday season, it’s worth a moment to check this out for your own organization or to pass on the information. Contact Russell Jackson at the Association of Nonprofits if you need more information.
