BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The YWCA Central Alabama honored Charlena Bray with the 2014 Jeana P. Hosch Woman of Valor award during the Annual Meeting on January 22. The award is presented each year to a YW woman who is an inspirational leader.

Bray, a former YWCA Board president and a minister at The Guiding Light Church, has dedicated her life to serving others. “Charlena is one of the most service-oriented people I have ever known,” said Jenny Gauld, a former Board member who presented Bray with the award. “She is gracious, she is a visionary and she is a leader. She’s always had a clear understanding of what needs to be done. She’s just a woman who gets it.”

A former high school math teacher and higher education administrator, Bray is president of Human Resources Services, Inc. where one of her major focuses is leadership development. She joined the Guiding Light staff in 1989 and has been in full-time ministry since 2001, serving in the areas of health and healing and bereavement. A member of the first class of Leadership Birmingham, she was part of the start-up team for Youth Leadership Forum. She is a graduate of Leadership Alabama and has served on the Brookwood Hospital Board and Women’s Advisory Board, the Women’s Business Ownership Council and with the National Conference for Community and Justice.

Bray volunteered with the YWCA for 18 years, including four years as president. She was instrumental in bringing the Purse & Passion luncheon, the agency’s largest fundraiser, to Birmingham. She also participated in a mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya that was sponsored by the world YWCA and culminated with a meeting at the world headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Bush Hills Development of “Love Your Block” Grant Initiative

The neighborhood in partnership with the City of Birmingham under the direction of Bacarra Mauldin, Robbie Pine, Hands on Birmingham volunteers with support from Lane Estes, Birmingham-Southern College/Horticulture Crew helped to beautify a target “Love Your Block”grant initiative. The grant was received under the visionary leadership of the Immediate Past President, Alma P. Dennis with support from the incoming president, Walladean Streeter. Project Chair- Dora U.Sims, Vice-President.

Day of Service held in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Birmingham City Council President Pro Tem Jay Roberson wrapped up the 5th year of the youth led movement—100 Days of Nonviolence— on January 19th during the National Day of Service honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
During the Day of Service, Councilor Roberson introduced a series of service projects, including a shoe distribution at A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club.
“Dr. King’s life stood for service. Hosting events like the Samaritan’s Feet Shoe Distribution is a fitting tribute to King’s life and what he represented,” said Roberson. “The partnership that we have established with Samaritan’s Feet continues to grow each year, and I’m thankful that we can give back to the community in this manner.”
On the National Day of Service, Councilor Roberson announced his partnership with the A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club and WorldVentures Foundations to build a Dream Court – a multi-sport play space designed to promote physical fitness and fun, at the A.G. Gaston facility.
The day concluded with a parade led by Bishop Calvin Woods, president, Birmingham Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Councilor Roberson. To celebrate nonviolence, Roberson, Woods and more than 100 people marched from Birmingham City Hall to Kelly Ingram Park. Youth had the opportunity to write expressions of the value of life and the importance to live on the LIVE WALL, a mobile chalkboard, at Kelly Ingram Park.
During the 5th Year Anniversary of 100 Days of Nonviolence, more than 2,000 students took the 100 Days of Nonviolence pledge. Recently, Birmingham Chief A. C. Roper reported the year 2014 as having one of the lowest rates for criminal homicide in over a decade. Each year, the 100 Days of Non-Violence initiative assists in lowering crime throughout the City of Birmingham.
“Dr. King stood for nonviolence and service. I’m overjoyed to have successfully completed the 5th year of the 100 Days of Nonviolence Campaign. I look forward to next year as we continue to uplift our youth,” said Councilor Roberson.

100 Days of Non Violence
The 100 Days of Non Violence Initiative began five years ago under the leadership of Council President Pro-Tem Jay
Roberson. It runs during the months of October through January and to date no young person under the age of 18 has
died to any senseless act of violence in that time. Each year young people in the City of Birmingham and surrounding
communities are encouraged to sign the nonviolence pledge to bring awareness to their peers about refraining from
violence all while promoting safer schools and communities.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A new citywide collaboration is working to increase the number of Birmingham-area high school seniors filling-out the required documents needed to help pay for college.
The new campaign, Cash for College, is a collaboration led by Alabama Possible’s Blueprints College Access Initiative, the Alabama Media Group and alumni from Leadership Birmingham. The Birmingham Education Foundation, Birmingham City Schools, the Bold Goals campaign, and others throughout the City are also participating. The goal of the campaign is to increase the number of students completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). FAFSA is required for all students applying for the Pell Grant, federal loans, and other work-study programs at Alabama’s two- and four-year, academic and technical schools.
To help meet this goal, the Cash for College campaign is hosting FAFSA completion workshops for Birmingham area high school students and their families at the YWoodlawn Family Resource Center (January 26, 2015), the UAB Business-Engineering Complex (February 21, 2015), and the A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club (February 26, 2015).
According to the U.S. Department of Education, nine out of 10 students who file a FAFSA enroll in postsecondary education the following fall. Only 39 percent of Birmingham City Schools’ 2014 graduating seniors completed a FAFSA form. The campaign is seeking to increase that number to 70 percent by the year 2020.
“There are a number of reasons why only 36 percent of Birmingham City Schools graduates pursue any form of post secondary education, but the cost of attending a two- or four-year institution should never one of them,” said Kristina Scott, executive director of Alabama Possible, one of the organizers of Cash for College. “Each year thousands of dollars are available to help students continue their studies beyond high school, but few in Alabama fill-out the required documents needed to qualify for assistance. The goal of the Cash for College campaign is to increase awareness about the resources available to students and guide them through this complicated process.”
Upcoming FAFSA Workshops and Events:
February 21, 2015 – UAB Business-Engineering Complex


1150 10th Avenue South

8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
In addition, at UAB, tax prep services will be available from the United Way’s VITA Program for individuals making up to $53,000. THE NABA UAB Student chapter will be volunteering as part of the United Way’s VITA program. Interested families should call 1-888-421-1266 to make an appointment, and mention you are a “FAFSA client making a tax prep appointment.”
***
February 26, 2015 – A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club


2900 South Park Drive Southwest

6 – 8 p.m.

Local area Law Enforcement Agencies are planning a freezing good time Saturday, January 31st 2015 at Oak Mountain State Park Beach. Come join us at the beach, the site of the Fifth Annual Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Polar Plunge. The plunge will begin at 10:00 am on the beach with a costume contest. All participants are encouraged to register early at https://www.eventbrite.com/teams/bpd-plungers/1113949. Registration for the Polar Plunge is $50.00. Participants will receive a T-shirt for their minimum registration. All the money raised will support the athletes that participate on local, state and national levels.
If you are interested in taking the Plunge with the BPD Team, sponsoring someone to Plunge, or making a donation, please contact Officer Timothy Gardiner (Community Services Division) at 205-790-3596 or timothy.gardiner@birminghamal.gov. See you on the beach!

MONTGOMERY – President Barack Obama is coming to Selma, Ala., on March 7, 2015, the 50th Anniversary of the Voter Rights March, known as Bloody Sunday. This was the first in a series of marches from Selma to Montgomery, which lead to the passage of the 1965 Voter Rights Act. However, this year the actual anniversary date falls on a Saturday.
“The President is coming to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this historic event and we are excited that he is coming to this area,” said Senate Minority Leader Quinton T. Ross Jr. (D-Montgomery).
Ross recalls walking with the President across the Edmund Pettus Bridge when President Obama was running for office and Ross served as the co-chair of his Alabama campaign.
“I worked on his election campaign in 2007 before he was elected to his first term in office, and I’m excited that he has decided to return to Selma this year to commemorate the event for a second time, but this time as the sitting President of the United States,” Ross said. “I was there when the President pushed the late Johnnie Carr in her wheelchair across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2007.”
Carr succeeded the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as president of the Montgomery Improvement Association in 1967, and held that office until she died in 2008.
Ross said the 50th anniversary of this monumental occasion is a special time for all Americans, and he is overjoyed that President Obama has decided to share in the festivities.
“We are all the benefactors of the blood, sweat and tears shed during this turning point in our nation’s history,” Ross said. “The fact that President Obama has decided to include Selma on his schedule during the celebration shows that he, too, understands the significance of this period of change to America history.”
The Senate Minority Leader is not alone in his feelings about Obama’s arrival.
Alabama State Sen. Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) shares in Ross’ excitement about the visit from the President.
“The Civil Rights Movement and Bloody Sunday were bigger than just one day,” Singleton said. “It’s all about the events that evolved leading up to that day and the legislation which followed. We feel good about the President coming to any event in our area for the 50th anniversary of the Voter Rights Act.”
Singleton said that President Obama’s Saturday visit does not take away from the organizers or any of the great work that has been done to plan this historic celebration.
“A sitting president is coming to the Black Belt of Alabama, and we need to open our hearts and our minds to welcome him,” Singleton said. “We need President Barack Obama to come and see our area while he has the power that comes with the office of the President.”
Perry County Commissioner Albert Turner Jr.’s (D-Marion) late father was one of the leaders of the Bloody Sunday March, which ended in violence and bloodshed.
Turner knows the importance of the occasion and what the commemoration meant to his father, Albert Turner Sr.
“I would hate for the everyday person to be inconvenienced by the heavy security that will be present during the Presidents visit,” Turner said. “The Presidents arrival will be welcomed by 99 percent of those in attendance. Perry County, where Blood Sunday was conceived and the only county in the nation to hold an official holiday in his honor will eagerly await his arrival.”

“The problem with charter schools and the Accountability Act’s scholarship granting organizations is that not every kid gets a choice or a chance. No matter how many scholarships and charter schools we create, some kids will get left behind in a failing school.

The goal of public education is to make sure every child gets a quality education, not just those who are lucky enough to get selected for a scholarship or charter school. Instead of giving up on struggling schools, we should be fixing those schools so that all our children get a chance.

The school choice debate is misleading because most kids will never get a choice. In the end, all these ‘reforms’ are is just a modern day version of bussing, and simply bussing some kids out of failing schools is not a solution.”

Rep. Craig Ford is a Democrat from Gadsden and the Minority Leader in the Alabama House of Representatives.