East Lake Initiative focuses on community development

Nearly five years ago, members of Christ Church United Methodist of Birmingham asked the question, “How can we best serve the city?”

After an 18-month search, the answer came for the church on Caldwell Mill Road – by laying roots in East Lake.

“We would take people on tours in vans, praying, asking ‘Lord, where would You have us to serve?’” East Lake Initiative Executive Director Pam Bates said. “This was the segment we were being led to.”

In 2011, the nonprofit East Lake Initiative, or ELI, was formed. It is affiliated with Christ Church United Methodist, Bates said, but financially, it is totally separate. When the nonprofit was formed, a 25-year commitment was made to serve the area.

“The mentality is we want to serve a whole generation,” ELI director of development Paige Jordan said. “Kids in 2011 will be grownups then, and we want to walk with them, educate them – we want them to stay in East Lake. That’s our hope.”

Anything less, Bates said, could prove detrimental.

“Sustainable change does not happen overnight,” she said.

ELI started as a housing ministry, Bates said.

“We saw a need for safe and sustainable housing,” she said. 

The nonprofit has now grown to include four key areas, Jordan said – housing, education, health and nutrition and economic development.

“They need to all come together to make the community a success,” Jordan said.

Jordan said there was a time when East Lake was a thriving community.

“Many want that again and want that back,” she said.

Bates, who lives in East Lake, said ELI asked the community what their greatest need was – and the response they got was that residents wanted a deeper sense of community.

“We want to know our neighbors and feel safe, secure, and connected,” she said. 

ELI is a holistic community development initiative from every angle, Bates said. In addition to refurbishing homes – ELI has eight either completed or in the works – ELI offers tutoring and mentoring at Barrett Elementary School and Ossie Ware Mitchell Middle School, and they serve meals to the schools’ PTAs and the middle school football team, among a slew of other projects.

“Everything we do is intentional,” Bates said. “We want to see lives and families improve. The whole intent is to build relationships and to show the gospel. Health and wellness comes from a relationship with Christ.”

Bates and Jordan are the only two on ELI’s staff, but the board has 10 members and weekly there are about 40 people in the schools, tutoring and mentoring, Bates said. Work teams of about 25 come out to refurbish homes on Fridays and Saturdays, where there is always plenty to do, Bates said.

“We have a great volunteer base,” Jordan said.

ELI targeted homes to refurbish that were close to Barrett Elementary School. One couldn’t be refurbished, Bates said, but the others are all occupied now.

“It’s now very safe for children to walk to school, where it was not in 2011,” Jordan said. “The economic development is obvious.” 

Eight homes have been or are being brought back to life by ELI currently. Five homes are complete, and three are in process.

“To maintain the integrity of the homes, we always refurbish, even though it would be easier and cheaper to build,” Bates said.

Work teams do yardwork, painting, reconstruction, cleanup – ELI takes these homes “down to the studs,” Bates said. “We start over.”

For ELI’s education piece, tutors and mentors are in the schools every week, and they began an art class at the middle school that went over so well that the school hired an art teacher. Last summer ELI hosted a creative arts camp for 48 girls called Created for a Purpose. It stands out as a defining moment in Jordan’s time with the nonprofit. The girls cooked, sewed, and made a craft at the camp, she said. 

“Just to see their little faces as they cooked and served – they were very proud of what they had accomplished and were proud to be a part of it,” Jordan said. “This is what it is about to me.”

For the health and nutrition piece, a health fair was held in October where blood pressure screenings were offered and nurses were there to talk to residents about prenatal care. The health fair was held right in front of East 59 Vintage and Café, one of East Lake’s newest businesses and an example of the area’s economic development.

In the years she has lived in and served East Lake, Bates has realized the nonprofit is more than just a ministry, she said. 

“It’s a relationship,” Bates said. “We are a family. We experience joy and heartache. It’s easy to share in the joy, and tougher in the hard times.”

Up next for Christ Church and ELI is a multifamily apartment complex where residents will move in and learn the process of home ownership. They hope to see their mentoring program grow, and hope to add more volunteers to their roster. Those interested in volunteering can email Jordan at paigemjordan@yahoo.com. 

“Our heart is always to connect people,” Bates said.

Jordan said ELI is here to walk alongside residents of East Lake as they strive, together, for East Lake to reach its full potential and to have their voice be heard.

“There are amazing assets here,” Bates said. “And if those assets and opportunities are utilized, I am certain that this is a community poised for greatness.”