My Nonprofit Reviews
O Happy Day
Review for Episcopal Communities Foundation, Inc. dba Episcopal Place, Birmingham, AL, USA
I was a staff member at Episcopal Place for 25 years, until my retirement in 2008. In this 1980 federally subsidized independent living facility for limited income elderly and young physically challenged adults, our overarching goal as board and staff was to create a caring Christian community in which residents of all faiths and backgrounds could live interdependently and age in place with dignity. With funds from the board of directors, volunteer coordination was added in 1984 and pastoral care services in 1988. Two years later board funds permitted the hiring of Alabama's first Supportive Services Coordinator (read "social worker") in this type of federally assisted housing. By 1992 a new federal law enabled HUD funding of this position from half- to full-time. The Service Coordinator's role was and is to import community services at reduced or no cost to the residents to sustain independent living and prevent premature nursing home transfers. The "triumvirate" of volunteer, pastoral care, and supportive services coordination enabled Episcopal Place to transition from an independent living FACILITY to a supportive housing COMMUNITY. Community-building was and is an ongoing process, however, requiring a sustained commitment by board, volunteers, and staff, who worked and work as a team to bring the founding board's vision to fruition. Given its population's age and cultural mix, Episcopal Place is a microcosm of the larger community of Birmingham and, for that matter, the nation. Would that the "caring community" model created there could be replicated not only in like facilities, as suggested by current board president Terry Rogers, but also in cities across the country.
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
Observing residents and staff of vastly different cultural and socioecomic backgrounds, faith communities, and perhaps value systems come to celebrate rather than merely tolerate their differences; learning about informal caring networks that existed among residents and between volunteers and residents; working as a team with extraordinarily gifted and committed staff members; becoming part of an extended family that included residents, residents' family members, board members other volunteers, and staff.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Continue to recognize the faith component of its founders that, with seed money from the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama and grant money from HUD, created the physical structures of EPI and II; keep the focus on community-building among the residents and between volunteers, staff and residents; and forge ahead with the excellent development work the current administration is doing to sustain and expand present programming and raise the visibility of this extraordinary community in the wider community.
