Birmingham City Council Highlights 2.4.25
Here are some of the legislative highlights from this week ICYMI
ITEMS 13 -14
The City Council approved a major funding package to provide shelter and wraparound services for unhoused residents as part of the City’s Home for All program. The two vendors who were approved on Tuesday were Urban Alchemy and Faith Chapel, totaling $2.69 million.
On any given day in Jefferson County, there are roughly 950 unhoused residents, with about a third of them sleeping without shelter.
The most immediate impact from this agreement will be seen in the form of 15 micro shelters that will be constructed at the downtown Faith Chapel Care Center. This facility will have case management, mailing addresses, counseling sessions, free showers and laundry services and computer access to facilitate job searches and other professional services.
The Council’s action on Tuesday approved the operational budgets for these organizations to be able to provide these services, as well as construction and maintenance of the shelters. It’s part of a targeted effort to bolster the capacity of providers who meet these individuals where they are. This marks the second phase of this important initiative; the interim housing village is expected to be completed by this summer at the Faith Chapel location.
Urban Alchemy received $1.5 million for the organization to construct and operate up to 60 micro shelters at a site that will be determined. This organization specializes in providing career pathways for formerly incarcerated individuals across the country. Approximately 96 percent of Urban Alchemy’s staff have been incarcerated and/or experienced homelessness, and over 80 percent of Urban Alchemy employees are Black or people of color. When a crisis occurs, they can leverage this trust to de-escalate situations, redirect behavior, and connect individuals to services.
“I want to publicly say thank you to these organizations. I’ve had several issues that I’ve reached out to Urban Alchemy for, and they’ve come through for our residents who needed assistance with a level of professionalism and excellence that left a strong impression on me,” Councilor JT Moore said. “I know that Urban Alchemy is still looking for a location for this new facility and I really want to advocate for them to work in District 4. The truth of the matter is these are our neighbors, this is where they are now, and this is where we can make the most impact in my opinion.”
In January, the City of Birmingham launched the HEART Program (Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team), with the stated goal of helping unhoused residents in crisis. Since the training in November, Urban Alchemy — who is managing this program — has hired 17 new employees, provided services to over 400 residents, and placed 10 people with services providers to help find them housing and employment.
“I’ve been able to see first hand the results of this partnership and how it’s serving our most at-risk residents,” Councilor LaTonya Tate said. “It’s an intricate problem, and it requires complex solutions, beyond just providing housing. It takes a lot of heart to do this work. I’m very encouraged by what I’ve seen and I’m proud to support this effort.”
ITEM 15
The Birmingham City Council approved a grant application with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) to secure funds from the Federal Carbon Reduction Program (CRPBH).
This grant funding would help to upgrade signals on state and local roads throughout the City of Birmingham with the total grant award not to exceed $1 million with $450,000.00 matching funds required by the City for a term of twelve months. This is the second time the City has applied for this particular grant.
Currently, the City faces logistical issues with optimizing traffic signals, often times leading to motorists being stopped at lights every block. In addition to making navigating city streets easier for people in cars, the goal of the grant is to help carbon emissions by reducing the time that cars are idling at intersections.
“This will help the City be able to coordinate signaling, which in turn helps us reduce these emissions,” Council President Darrell O’Quinn said. “It’s obviously something that we all deal with, anyone who drives downtown knows how frustrating it can be. I can’t tell you the last time we had 100 percent connectivity and control over the signalized intersections, but due to weather related issues, power surges and what have you, many of those have gone offline. It’s a frequent issue that we hear from residents about and hopefully we can secure these funds and fix this issue.”
UPDATED TRASH PICKUP SCHEDULE
Changes have been made to trash and recycling pickup schedules for all of Birmingham’s 99 neighborhoods. We’re continuing to get calls about this updated schedule so please review the information below to see if your pickup day has changed.
The consolidated routes are paving the way for an increase in bulk trash and brush pickup services citywide.
STAY CONNECTED WITH US
Last year, new regulations from the Federal Communications Commission went into affect and changed the way residents can receive updates from the Birmingham City Council.
If you would like to continue receiving messages to your phone about upcoming volunteer opportunities, events, meetings, important alerts, and more, you will need to opt in by texting BHMDistrict__ (insert your District number) to 38276.
EXAMPLE: BHMDistrict1, BHMDistrict2 and so on.
Or, you can visit this LINK
Click the green box that says “sign up” and fill in your information.
A cellphone number is required.
Don’t miss out on all of the important updates, free events, and opportunities to get the most out of life in the Magic City.
