Breaking Barriers, Building Safety

In this episode, we break down the key decisions and discussions from the July 14th Birmingham City Council meeting. Then, enjoy a compelling conversation featuring Council President Pro Tem LaTonya Tate, along with distinguished guests Deborah Daniels of the Offender Alumni Association and William Barnes of the Urban League of Alabama as they explore critical topics including public safety, community trust, and the often unseen work happening behind the scenes to strengthen Birmingham’s neighborhoods. Plus, we’ll share updates on upcoming events and other important information you won’t want to miss.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Welcome to Motion to Adjourn, the podcast about the work that continues with the Birmingham City Council beyond what happens on Tuesdays during council meetings.

SPEAKER_04 0:13

All in favor, let it be known by saying aye.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

Or in the committee meeting. After the official motion to adjourn, the council's continue work on behalf of the city and its residents. Welcome to the motion to adjourn podcast. I am your host, Anaya Kenyan. I serve as project manager for the Birmingham City Council. Today we are diving into some of the most significant items that were mentioned during Tuesday's council meeting. On Tuesday, the council approved funding for the Northside Spark Project, a major initiative focused on right-of-way improvements in three of Birmingham's historic neighborhoods Fountain Heights, Druid Hills, and Norwood. This investment is aimed at enhancing walkability and better connecting these communities with both ongoing redevelopment and future growth happening throughout the area. The allocation will be administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham to advance these improvements and help lessen the effects of the I-2059 redevelopment on the surrounding neighborhoods. The council approved an interlocal agreement allowing the Offender Alumni Association to continue its partnership with the Jefferson County Board of Health for the hospital-linked violence intervention program. Under this agreement, $1.15 million will support the comprehensive services for program participants, including case management, education, employment assistance, housing, food, utility, and transportation support. Let's hear from Council President Pro Tem Latanya Tate.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

So when you continue to invest in community-based organizations like Afender Alumni Association, who's doing this great work, who's been doing this great work in partnership with the Jefferson County Health Department. So we want to send a big shout out to Dr. Hicks, who uh continues to support and believe in the work, Deborah Dance and her team with zero recidivism. This shows you how partnership and collaboration uh just come together and collide so we can continue to get uh the reducing gun violence in the city of Birmingham.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

The program serves residents ages 19 to 39 recovering from non-self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Intervention begins at the bedside where staff from UAB's Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery identify interested patients and connect them directly to the program. Since its inception, the initiative has supported more than 250 individuals, achieving exceptional success in preventing retaliation and re-injury, surpassing national outcomes for similar hospital-based programs. The council approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to apply for, submit, and accept all grant funds appropriated by the Alabama legislature for FY 2027 to support CityWalk maintenance. The 31-acre linear park stretching across 10 city blocks has become one of Birmingham's most iconic and heavily used public spaces. Next month, CityWalk will host the Pfizer World Series, an international extreme sports competition expected to draw more than 40,000 attendees. Although the state of Alabama owns the property, the BJCC oversees its daily operations and upkeep. The council approved $2.6 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency grant funding to support the long-term floodplain restoration of Village Creek. For decades, Birmingham has faced severe and chronic flooding along Village Creek and other local waterways, making this investment an important step toward addressing one of the city's most persistent infrastructure challenges. This restoration strategy will convert high-risk areas into permanent natural public spaces, including W.C. Patton Park and the Village Creek Linear Park, helping rebuild the floodplain and strengthen the region's defenses against extreme weather. As part of FEMA's pre-disaster mitigation program, the state of Alabama received $17 million in total, with Village Creek securing the second largest allocation. This is a significant commitment to improving community safety and long-term resilience.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Hey, this is Birmingham City Councillor Crystal Smithman. I'm thrilled to invite you to one of my favorite summer traditions, the District 6 Summer Farmers Market, which will be held every second Saturday in June and August. On June 13th and July 11th, we'll be at Memorial Park, and on August 8th, we'll be at the Grove. The market will be open from 1.30 to 3:30, and all forms of payment will be accepted. So let's shop local and support our farmers. I'll see you there.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

This past year, Birmingham has seen meaningful progress in reducing crime, and part of their success comes from community organizations working directly with individuals and families every day. Two of those organizations are the Offender Alumni Association, a group made up of people with lived experience who are helping others successfully re-enter society and build safer, stronger communities. And the Urban League of Alabama, a community-based nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Urban League, which promotes its mission on economic self-resilience and civil rights through community organizations and by improving access to education, employment, housing, and public health in underserved communities. Today we're speaking with Deborah Daniels from OAA and William Barnes from the Urban League to learn more about their work, their impact, and the role they play in supporting public safety across our city. Thank you for being here with us today and welcome.

SPEAKER_06 6:42

Well, thank you, Councilwoman Pro Tim. It is always an honor to share a platform with you. You know, you're one of our champions, and we enjoy working with you. My name is Deborah Daniels. I'm the executive director and co-founder of the Offender Alumni Association. And you know what our mission is. I'm one of those individuals who used to be a burden or a menace to society. Went to prison, got outright, and realized that there was a missing component. And that missing component was us being those individuals who reached back and helped one another to navigate the challenges and barriers that we face. So I'm just honored and I'm glad to share this platform with my brother William Barnes. So I'm gonna turn it over.

SPEAKER_04 7:28

Oh man, you got me smiling. I am so glad to be here with you two ladies. Um, and so I know that the folks in the listening honors can't see us, but I'm sitting in the middle and I appreciate the opportunity uh to just chat with you. So my name is William Barnes. I do have uh the pleasure of serving as the president and CEO of the Urban League of Alabama. I just celebrated 10 years uh in the role, and so very excited. Congratulations. But you know, ladies, I'll tell you I'm very, very humble. Um, you know, the Urban League is uh a civil rights organization first, social services second. Um and you know, it's really an economic empowerment that unfortunately 116 years ago when the organization was founded, we still find that to be our mission today. Um critical services, supporting the underserved, more particularly black uh folks and and African Americans, and we are unapologetically uh about that community. So I want to be sure people understand that uh that work. I always like to say that you know, a lot of times we consider ourselves the stepchildren of the civil rights movement. Because when you think civil rights, you think NAACP, you think SELC. Uh, but what most people don't know is our story is unique in that we supported uh the work of Dr. King. As a matter of fact, his uh famous I Have the Dream speech, many of the planning meetings happen at the National Urban League headquarters, and people don't know that. Um so it makes me very humble um to just try to do this work um and just chime in and do our part in in helping the communities.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

Well, thank you, thank you, thank you. Let's lean in with some questions uh for listeners who may be unfamiliar. Can each of you briefly share the mission of your organization and the communities you serve? I think you already have kind of put that already out there. Deborah, you know, told a little bit about, you know, OA, the mission of OA. She's told you um her story, why she got involved in doing what she does, and William have laid the foundation about, you know, the Urban League, you know, what their mission is, what they stand for, what they stand on. Being unapologetic about who they like that I like that. Where they stand and how they continue to stand on business nationally throughout this nation. So that's gonna lead me into my next question. What initially inspired your work in public safety and community advocacy? And I'm gonna pitch that over to you, Deborah, and then we'll ask William the same question.

SPEAKER_06 9:48

Well, of course, what inspired my work is my own lived experience, right? And um, coming out and seeing how our communities were still suffering and how we were not being the vessels, the vehicles to bring that restoration, to bring that healing back into our communities after we had navigated so many circumstances and situations. Why won't I share that with my neighbor, with my community, so that they too can take part of that economic empowerment, that social empowerment, you know what I'm saying? That moves their lives forward as well. So that that is how I wanted to give back after I had been given so much. I'll tell you a story, Councilwoman Pro Tim. Um, a young man, well, he wasn't a young man, you know. I worked for Prison Fellowship Ministries for 19 years before I founded OAA. And um, Mari Talbert, a formerly incarcerated individual who was the uh regional director of prison fellowship, he said this to me. He said, if you want to learn how to stay out of prison, jump in my back pocket. Now I thought he was being uh arrogant when he said that, right? But there was some truth to it because he had already navigated that. And what this man did important in my life, he prepared me to take his position. He said, I am grooming you to take my position at prison fellowship. And how often do we do that with one another? And that's what inspires me because I've been inspired.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

That's awesome, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 11:34

We're so so let's say this. Um, about 15 years ago, um, I live on the northern part of the city of Birmingham. Um, and at the time my daughter was uh about five years old. Um she's graduating now, and so I'm very, very excited about uh what that looks like. She may have been a little bit younger. Uh but I was driving down the street and there was a drug dealer that lived about three doors down from me. Um and I actually went to high school with him. And so every day I would pick up my daughter and then drive down the street. He'd be sitting out on the porch, would be moving about his home, and I'd wave and, you know, hump my horn is like, What's up, brother? You know, I'd just keep it moving. One day we come home and there was several uh EMS uh police and whatnot out front of his home. And he had been, he had fell victim to uh a drive-by shooting. Um and what I recognized, I went home and really reflect, one, you know, we had someone that lost his life, someone that I knew. But then it got me to thinking that what if one of those days that I was driving down the street with my child in the car and that shooting occurred and she caught a straight bullet. Um it was at that time that it really woke me up to say that it's not okay, uh, even if it's people you know, to allow folks to do even those small things that can that can create violence in the city. Um and so that was really the nudge that I would say that that really caught my attention. Um and then over the years we begin to hear uh murders of of children, uh our babies in the street, we begin to hear murders of grandparents and grandfathers and grandmothers, and so it just from my perspective as the numbers continue to climb, says that historical organizations like the NWCP and Urban League that have been fighting for civil rights, there was a movement and a time where we made change there. And I see no reason why we can't use those resources. These are our institutions to use those uh uh and and really just impact what's happening in the city.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

Oh, that's that's awesome. You know, and we often, you know, say those that are closest to the problem are the solution solvers, but furthest from the resources. So, you know, when we see, you know, the numbers that we have currently in in the city of Birmingham, um, working with great organizations like yourself, and we want to welcome, you know, more people into the footprint instead of you know people just being people that's saying, you know, what's not being done. A lot is being done. And so this leads me to my next question. How does your organization contribute directly to reducing crime in Birmingham? And we'll start with William and then we'll, you know, give it give that question to Deborah as well.

SPEAKER_04 14:19

You know, we're ready because Deborah, you and I were just talking about this yesterday. We we were just talking about and formalizing uh some conversations around well, what's the role, right? Everybody has a lane. And so I define our role as is really a team that's deployed to interrupt violence before it happens. It's a novelty, right? It's something that says, well, really, can you really do that? Um but I want to make sure that I give a shout out to our team. It's called FSB Free the Streets, Birmingham. Um, and the purpose of that team is to literally be out in the streets uh find in a zone, and as violence is beginning to happen, they step in the midst of that. Um it's a very dangerous space. Um this model is such that even when we first got started, um uh we talked about Norm. I don't know if we want to bring him up today, uh, but to talk with Norm and Livingstein out of Chicago, and his his point was that listen, there are people that have actually got shot trying to do this work. And so it is definitely mission-driven work, and so our contribution is interrupting violence where it is. We actually have an office in one of the housing communities now, and so we are there uh all times of night, we won't give times, you know, whether it be early morning, late evenings, uh simply trying to make sure we're accessible and build trust in the community. We believe that uh we've got currently a caseload of about 27 to 28 high-risk individuals that are either have been shot or are shooters, uh, and the whole idea is to give them an outlet and in being able to do something different. And the last thing I'll say about that is about 80 to 90 percent that we found of the folks that we've really engaged with don't want to be shooters. They do it out of either what they feel like it's necessity, they do it out if they feel like it's peer pressure, uh, or they feel like that there's no other way out. And so those are the folks that we're really trying to help. Now, there are truth knuckleheads out there, there are absolute evildoers out there, and they need to be punished, that's a fact. But we believe uh based on the work that we've done that most of the people that we're touching don't necessarily really want to commit that crime. So we're trying to give an outlet and try to get pro uh prevent them from doing it before it starts.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

That's good. Thank you, William. And Deborah, the same question to you. Um, how does the organization contributed contribute directly to reducing crime in Burma? You guys have done a tremendous job. You know, I want to I cannot thank you enough. Uh, this is very tough work, and it takes people, you know, that really do this work from the heart, even if resources are not there. You guys have stepped up to the plate even when the resources were not there, and just I commend you, and I can't stop commending you all enough. So, Deb, give us your take on that.

SPEAKER_06 16:55

Well, our our role in reducing crime in the city of Birmingham and throughout Jefferson County is through our partnership with the City of Birmingham, the mayor's office of violence uh reduction initiative, and also with the Jefferson County Department of Health. Um, and we operate the hospital violence intervention component of this. So these are individuals who have all our survivors of gun violence, okay? And we know that individuals who are survivors that they're more likely to be re-injured if that intervention does not take place. And we have a prime example on our staff right now, one of our violence intervention professionals, right? The first time we reached out to her and offered her the assistance and the resources of the program, she did not receive that, right? And then the uh case manager goes up there and she's laying in the bed again, but this time she's got to have 17 surgeries to correct the harm that the second injury caused, right? Um so the hospital violence intervention is a component that works with, that provides that healing, that trauma-informed care after a traumatic experience of surviving gun violence. And it goes back to what my brother William Barnes said. Most of these people don't want to be involved in that lifestyle, in those situations, but they don't have an outlet, you know. We just kind of put a bandage on things. But what this initiative has allowed us to do is walk with individuals for a whole year and really not just invest in just their physical uh needs, but also their emotional and their financial. Because when you've lost your wages, whatever it was, however you were getting your money, you know what I'm saying? That puts you uh, you're back up against the wall. And now you got to come out and do something to get yourself back on track, right? But we're able to fill in some of those gaps and those financial needs to take that burden. But also many of our violence professionals, they're survivors of gun violence themselves. You know, I gotta speak about Tim Lanier. You know, he was one of the ones who was laying up in the hospital many years ago before uh community violence intervention was even a concept, right? Uh from his injuries of being assaulted. And now here he is, he's one of our lead professionals in this work. And he gets to tell people and walk with them about how to put their lives back together. And they can't do that alone. It takes all of us, it takes community, it takes government, it takes law enforcement, it takes the neighborhood, it takes every one of us to do this with our neighbors. So that's our role in this. And we have, I don't know how many clients we have right now, but I know it's over 250, right? Um and we have seen the um reduction in retaliation because when somebody's been hurt, the first thing they they're like is I'm gonna get them.

SPEAKER_04 20:18

That's right.

SPEAKER_06 20:19

You know, get active. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:22

That's right.

SPEAKER_06 20:22

So, so yeah. It's it's it's hard work, but it's hard work too. And you've got to have the passion and you've got to take care of yourself too. That's why. And so that's one of the things I've really pushed with my with my team is self-care. Because you can take on the burdens and the care of somebody else and forget about yourself. That's right. And then you're no good to nobody.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

That is good, Deborah. Advocating for this work, you know, traveling around, you know, the country, um, and you're having the partners that we have with um Dr. Jamila T. Davis, with R I S J A, Norman Livingston, her, Trajectory Change Solutions, Dr. Chico Tillman with the uh Community Violence Leadership Academy, Marcus Mack Allison with Mack Allison Consultant, Leah Free. We have um we got the best uh people in the nation that have poured into people right here in Birmingham, you know, teaching them what they need to know, you know, to continue to push it is the model and the things that we have done. I had an opportunity when I was in New Jersey um last week to to be on stage with Mayor Baraka, who is continuing to do this stuff in Newark to date. They have three homicides. And I remember traveling to Newark in 23, Deborah and I took, you know, that um that trip.

SPEAKER_06 21:45

We did.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

And we was able to see what was going on in that ecosystem in real time.

SPEAKER_06 21:50

You bought that back. They bought it all back.

SPEAKER_03 21:53

So I'm just a proponent of, you know, if I'm a lead to the framework, I gotta know what the framework consists of. So Spending that time in the community violence leadership academy with Dr. Chico Tillman, learning the framework. Right. And what does a real ecosystem look like in real time? Getting to travel to different states, doing the, you know, the six-month training with the CBI LA, seeing what they do, you know, in the ecosystem. So that leads me to William.

SPEAKER_04 22:20

I ain't do it.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

From the urban league perspectives, and you talk, you stood on economic development. Like, what is economic opportunity, access, and resources that impacts that you guys do to reduce, you know, violence. Unapologetic, standing on business, the urban league. Like, what's your your what's your take, you know, in that?

SPEAKER_04 22:43

Well, listen, let me do this. Um, one, I have to acknowledge you you shared a little bit with your listening audience of what you've done. Um, this doesn't happen without you, counselor. Uh Tate. I think that folks have to know that we've got to scream this loud and proud that you've been a drum major, and it takes sustainability, right? It takes dollars, it takes financial, but it also takes the backing of city leaders and others to really say that, hey, we believe in the work that you're doing. So I want to publicly thank you for that work. Uh it's led to even Deborah and I now working hand in hand. So we're gonna be establishing an MOU that says, listen, we're not we've been working in silos, and so we're better together. And so connecting this work into what we're having to do. So we plan to make you proud. We certainly plan to make the citizens of of Birmingham proud in Jefferson County uh abroad and and all of the city leaders. So I wanted to take a moment to share that. Um as it relates to the economic empowerment, you know, that is at our core. Um, that is any critical service. One of the things uh we start with is housing. Are you in a stable housing condition? Uh one of our key tenants says that no family or individual should have to worry about where they're laying ahead at night, more particularly those with families and children. Um so housing conditions is what we typically start with. Are you in a stable place? That's your sanctity. That's where you can go home and feel safe. And if you don't feel safe, then we have to sit uh simply address that. Um the second thing I would say is certainly the ability to earn. So we have job training programs and connecting with individuals where they are. Um, job training doesn't mean that you're just dealing with unemployed individuals, it means that underemployed individuals that are still making $7.25 an hour when rent is $1,500 on average $1,500. So how do we get them up to a living salary? And so our target is $45,000 a year at minimum that we try to be sure all of our participants are in. Certainly there are opportunities where where folks can go higher. Um but I would say that, you know, for the sake of time, those two tenants, there are many others, those that don't have driver's license, uh, we're now beginning to work on expungement so that you know they're gonna work and there's something that's not in their way uh in their criminal background. And so if there is something that prohibits them a challenge transportation, if there's something that prohibits an individual from being able to earn and take care of their families, we are focused on that. Uh we give bus passes to folks, they gotta be enrolled in the program. It's like, look, you just can't ride around town unless you're doing what you need to do. But if you want to get to work, we'll help you get to work. Um and so those three critical components, housing, jobs, and and certainly transportation is at the core of the work that we do to help individuals in the program.

SPEAKER_03 25:27

Love it. This is awesome. So it just shows people how the ecosystem is built out and how it all intersects transportation, housing, and then it also shows where you all have taken these organizations and the people, again, closest to the problem and have people on your staff that are in these high, these positions, as William says, not 725, but a comfortable wage where you can live on a way where you can have a lot of people. Where you can take care of your family in the mindset, the time frame, spending a year or more with people. People that have our survivors are now taking a pain and turning it into purpose and working in the community and giving back. I often tell people, we cannot do this alone. We cannot. The city cannot do this by the way. We need partners across the sector. And this leads me into my next question. Um, how do organizations help rebuild trust between residents and the systems meant to serve them? You know, toss it out to both of you all.

SPEAKER_04 26:36

You want to start then? Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_06 26:38

Thanks for your yeah, we're we're just a bridge. We become that bridge that helps uh individuals build that trust, first of all, with someone that they can relate to, right? And they trust us. And so if we are saying to them, these are our partners, then of course they trust our partners, whether it's our community organizations, whether it's even our law enforcement. You know what I'm saying? Um, so I'm gonna lay it right there, and uh I'm gonna turn it over to William and let him.

SPEAKER_04 27:16

So, you know, one of the words that um I haven't heard as much, I think it's just because we've been doing the work is credible messenger.

SPEAKER_06 27:22

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:23

Um, and when we talk about the bridge, I think Deborah that you have a staff of credible messengers. Uh we have built uh, I think a staff of credible messengers, and I don't want it to get lost. That the folks that we're hiring are folks that look like the community. To your point, they've been um they've had some trauma or had some run-ins. They know uh the communities by which they're going into. They're credible messengers. Uh there is no doubt in my mind that you know there are many folks that wear suits and ties and say that, hey, we gotta wag wag our finger and and stop crime. They aren't the credible messengers. So we we're making sure that folks understand that we're building this program based on those that are most likely to have the success of connecting with individuals. And it's only through that, you know, you could you could offer as many resources as you want, but if people aren't comfortable, it's just like health care. When you think about black communities and our distrust in healthcare, you have to have credible health working professionals that help people feel at ease with the healthcare space. So I absolutely believe in the fact that the that that the same thing applies uh in in in reducing crime and that's having credible messengers in the space. And that is the bridge. And that's what we're that's the bridge, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

That's the bridge, that's the bridge. And I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna lean in and um take us out with these last two questions. Um we could sit here hours and talk about this. But you're gonna put us out in a minute, so but here's what I I want to ask the both of you. What keeps both of you motivated as leaders? CEO of the Urban League, one of the most prolific voices in the nation? Yeah. Deborah Daniels, one of the most prolific people in the nation, from incarceration to a CEO, executive director, and a boss herself. What keeps both of you all motivated doing this work even in difficult times when we see an administration like we have in DC, funding being cut, you know, just really piecemealing resources together. I think you all laid a perfect foundation. And y'all hear me preaching about this all the time. This silo working got to stop. We are better together, bringing these resources together. What keeps you and yourself and William and you, William, what keeps both of y'all motivated to keep doing this work?

SPEAKER_06 29:43

Or what keeps me motivated is just love. I love people. And I want and believe that everybody should have an opportunity to have a life that has meaning and value. And these are the most underserved individuals in our communities. And if God has taken my mess, now you're gonna make me pre-communication. Come on, come on, slide your feet back, but if he has taken my mess and did something with it and now is allowing me to be a vessel to help the next person to just have something that they can really feel that they have meaning and worth, that they're just not thrown away. So, you know, one of my uh um uh singers, uh artists, uh Mays, Frankie Beverly, right? Love is the key to a lot of things that ill our society and our communities.

SPEAKER_04 30:51

That's right, that's right. Um motivation. So I I'm gonna start by simply saying I think it's important um that we do what we can to save lives. Absolutely. Um I I really value life and and I'm motivated by making sure that everyone has the right um to a prosperous life. Um and I would say that the second thing again, I start out by saying how humble I am in this space. I'm motivated when I wake up every day. Uh I've got a black and white picture of some of our ancestors, uh, from Dr. King to uh Malcolm X and others, um, and even to our current leaders. My job is to make folks proud because I have domain over um spaces and resources. And the idea of motivation is says, are we making our communities proud? Are we saving people's lives? Uh and I can't, you know, I'll I'll end by simply saying that I gotta make my mama proud too.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

Gotta make our moms. Gotta make our moms proud. We walking on the shoulders of, you know, family members, my grandfather, my uncle, you know, that hatchet lineage, my girl, that Tate lineage. But I'm gonna wrap this thing up and and kind of wrap in this last question as a twofold question. How can residents, local business, community partners, and how can people connect and support your organizations after this podcast and get involved in doing this work? Like, how can people get involved, Deb? And we email. Tell the people how.

SPEAKER_06 32:26

Well, we're on the website. Uh, you can visit our website at offenderalumni.org, or you can call our office at 205-368-0080. And of course, you can follow us, like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. You can do all the things, right?

SPEAKER_04 32:46

And we're gonna be able to do that. I'm waiting on the TikTok, though. I gotta get on TikTok, right?

SPEAKER_06 32:50

And you're in the neighborhood.

SPEAKER_04 32:54

Um, so so same thing. Uh, we're on all the platforms. It's ualabama.org, uh, ualabama.org. Uh let me say this: a lot of people ask where organizations are. Uh, more particularly, there was this whole thing about, well, where's the NAACP today? Where's the Urban League today? And I would even say with the work that we're currently doing, people are railing against the work of the Alumni Association. I got to tell you, I am in awe of what you do, uh, appreciative of our partnership. But the one thing that I challenge the listener with is that the question isn't about where the organizations are. Organizations are made up of people. So the conversation is where are you? Are you plugged into an organization? Are you giving resources? Are you giving of your time? Are you there to support the work and the mission of these organizations? Because they're only as good as the people that are engaged. That's true. And so that that's kind of the space I am. UL, excuse me, ualabama.org is where you can connect with us.

SPEAKER_03 33:50

Well, hey, you heard it from my two super friends, uh CEO, Mr. William Barnes with the Urban League, Deborah Daniels, Executive Director of OAA, Offender Alumni Alumni Association. Thank you both for sharing your insight and for the work your organizations continue to do for Birmingham, families and communities. Conversations like this remind us that public safety isn't just about numbers, it's about people, collaboration, and creating opportunities for stability and success. We've seen encouraging progress in our city over the past year, and organizations like the Offender Alumni Association and the Urban League of Alabama are an important part of that momentum. Thanks for tuning in to motion to adjourn. Until next time, stay informed and stay engaged, and we are out.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

Let's come together, show our pride, and make a real impact in District 1. If you're ready to step up and serve, register today at jotform.com backslash BHM District One. Backslash Serve Day 2026. Don't wait. Sign up, show up, and help lift our community.

SPEAKER_02 35:59

It's happening this Saturday, July 18th, starting at 2 p.m. at 602 19th Street, Inslee. Bring your friends, your family, your neighbors, and even your pups and experience the heart of ENSLY as it comes alive with artistry, culture, and joy. If you want to make an even bigger impact, volunteers are needed for this event. Email d8help at Birminghamal.gov for more information. Again, that's d8help at BirminghamAL.gov. Come celebrate community in full bloom. You don't want to miss this. Join us for Heal the Block. Bring your family, friends, and neighbors out for a day of community healing, unity, and celebration. Happening Saturday, August 1st from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1200 Tuscaloosa Avenue. Enjoy free wellness resources, music, youth activities, local vendors, food, and inspiring speakers, all designated to uplift and support our community. Come be part of the movement to heal, connect, and strengthen the block. Don't forget, our motion to adjourn mailbag is open, but we need it filled with your questions. Mailbag is your chance to connect directly with your city. Got a question, suggestion, or concern? We want to hear from you. Send us an email at bhamalcitycouncil at gmail.com and let your voice be part of the conversation here on the Motion to Adjourn podcast. Again, that's Bham AL City Council at gmail.com. Remember, together we're building a strong community, one idea at a time. Thanks for listening to Motion2Adjourn. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast to learn more about your city and local government. Also, follow us on our socials on Instagram and Facebook at City CouncilBeham. Until next time, stay informed and stay engaged.