The Community Foundation Holds Community Forums

Citizens voicing opinions on the issues

During the months of December (2011), January and February of 2012 the Community Foundation of South Alabama, in partnership with United Way, sponsored a series of community forums entitled, “What Kind Of Community Do You Want To Live In? Your Opinion Matters”. Open to the general public, the series was held in various locations throughout the eight counties served by the Foundation. The aim of the forums was to entreat the public to engage the Foundation in a dialogue on the issues facing their communities and what resources they needed to address these concerns.

The forums were well attended by community citizens clearly deeply concerned with the direction their area was headed. Foundation facilitators engaged the public, sometimes one on one, to furrow out root issues such as economic development, public safety and security and services available to the community (such as transportation).

Conversations in each community reflected the unique needs and dreams of each town, city, and county, but they also produced a number of common threads that seemed important to strengthening the fabric of each particular community—regardless of its size or geographic location.

 The dialogue threads common at all of the communities forums consisted of: more jobs for the new generation, the lack of preparedness for existing jobs that high school graduates exhibit, bringing more recreational outlets to the county to engage the youth, problems with communication-the difficulties of getting information to all citizens, including those without regular internet access and finally, the overwhelming  need for transportation to programs and services for the rural underserved.

 Holding the forums has allowed the Community Foundation to personally hear the issues from community leaders and the general public. We are tabulating all the data and suggestion collected at each of the forums and anticipate returning to the communities soon. The information collected will allow the Foundation to formulate ideas and better focus our resources into the programs and nonprofits that are best suited to assist the citizens in the communities of South Alabama.

Alabama Free Clinic Meets the Needs of the Uninsured

The Community Foundation of South Alabama continues to serve as a conduit of funding for nonprofits in the eight county footprint served by this foundation. An excellent example of this principal at work is that of the Alabama Free Clinic, which received a grant of $70,670, made possible by the Fund for Gulf Communities, a Program of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

The grant has allowed the Alabama Free Clinic to open a medical clinic in Gulf Shores, Alabama to support South Baldwin County. The clinic provides medical care at no-charge to uninsured residents in the seafood and tourism industries. The new clinic opened on October 24^th of 2011. Other locations for Alabama Free Clinic include Bay Minette and Robertsdale, Alabama.

Community Foundation staff members recently made a site-visit to the Clinic located in the Robertsdale community. We are pleased to report that Alabama Free Clinic runs a very organized and impressive operation. We were given a brief report of the organization’s accomplishments and activities during 2011 and early 2012.  Foundation staff members toured the facility and were walked through the process by which patients and doctors are brought together for appointments.

It all begins at the Alabama Free Clinic website or via their phone which is staffed by a nurse. Through the phone or web portal potential client’s symptoms are noted and matched to the doctor best suited to treat them. The patient is given an appointment date and the doctor is notified when his patient will be in the clinic and what symptoms they are presenting—a very tidy system indeed.

The Clinic has added personnel and infrastructure to keep up with the increase in demand for services since the recession and BP oil spill that adversely impacted the economic fortunes of Baldwin County. Appointments in the year 2011 exceed 1,500 and clinic staff arranged to distribute $673,600 in lifesaving name-brand prescriptions at no charge to their clients.

 
The Clinic staff is largely unpaid volunteers who selflessly work towards the betterment of healthcare in Baldwin County among its uninsured citizens. We applaud Alabama Free Clinic for their dedication to the citizens of Baldwin County.

Washington County Public Library Receives $10,000 Grant

Photo: Staff and patrons of Washington County Library

In January of 2012 the Washington County Public library received a $10,000 Field of Interest Grant from the Community Foundation to fund upgrades to its Wi-Fi infrastructure. The grant will allow the Library to push its current Wi-Fi signal throughout its indoors facility and up to 100 - 150 yards in the areas directly surrounding the facility.

Washington County is in an economically underdeveloped area with a population of 17,581 and 27% of the children under the age of 18 live in poverty.  Computers and internet access are luxuries few can afford in this county. The Washington County Public Library is the only location in the county where citizens can access computers with free Internet, reports Ms. Jessica Ross, Director.  She also tells us that their computers have logged over 20,000 users last year proving a service that is sorely needed.

Man using Wi-Fi to search internet

With the Wi-Fi upgrade, Ms. Ross continues, we will be able to expand access to high speed Wi-Fi throughout our meeting rooms, parking lot, and the surrounding area. “The grant will allow people to better access high speed Internet service free of charge…and will be a huge help to students, visitors on business trips, and all other patrons needing immediate access to the Internet when the library is closed. The grant will allow all our citizens the ability to download valuable information from the Internet”.

The Community Foundation of South Alabama is pleased to be a part of the much needed expansion of internet services at the Washington County Public Library and looks forward to partnering with them on future projects.