Only April 27, the Homewood City Council approved a 1.25-year microtransit pilot, to start in July and run through Sept. 2027. Fully funded by the Community Foundation, the pilot will allow the city to test the microtransit model, track usage, gather resident feedback, and plan a strategy to support the service in their budget in FY2028. This was the same process that led to the City of Birmingham taking on microtransit in their budget and expanding it across the city. The Community Foundation has helped shepherd this forward for the past two years, and it is exciting to see an expansion of the microtransit system come to fruition. The City of Irondale is also poised to commit to a microtransit expansion pilot. These efforts will help bring this affordable and accessible system of public transportation to more of our region, and allow more people to reliably get to work, shopping medical appointments, and more.  

Our partners have been planning for their collaborative summer bridge program for incoming college freshman in July, the first step in a two-year program to provide stronger support to college freshman as they navigate their first year of college. Alabama Possible is working on their statewide resource directory for students and blueprint for higher education institutions, both designed to help college students persist and succeed. This will tie into the Alabama College Match program that has eased the path to college access at 39 higher education institutions in our state.  

Through this collaborative effort, we will track the success of around 420 college students receiving enhanced support and share valuable findings about how to help more students continue in and finish college.  

Our Birmingham cohort will be highlighted on the national stage again – we will join our national funders and nonprofit partners at the UNCF Unite conference in July.  

In 2024, the Community Foundation made its first two impact investments – low-interest loans to support projects with a positive social impact – totaling $500,000. 

The first was to Woodlawn United to provide bridge financing to the Cottages at Georgia Road project, which will bring eight affordable rental homes and 12 affordable homes for purchase to the Woodlawn community. 

The second was to Opportunity Alabama to help finance the expansion of the Titusville Cultural Center, a community hub that provides affordable nonprofit and community space. 

Woodlawn United initially faced some procedural delays around permitting and financing but has begun construction on the Cottages at Georgia Road, with a projected completion date in Spring 2027. Construction for the Titusville Cultural Center expansion is 100% complete and the spaces are 85% leased at affordable rates. Five nonprofits are leasing office and program spaces and nine startup businesses are leasing the co-working spaces at the center. The community event space is open for use. 

Chris Nanni and Gus Heard-Hughes have continued to dig further into the issue of affordable housing and are seeing promising pathways for an impactful and sustainable model. We will keep you posted as this effort develops.    

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin reached out to Chris Nanni, Sanjay Singh (current board chair), Brian Hamilton (former board chair), Claude Nielsen (former CEO and chairman of the board of Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc.), and Gus Heard-Hughes to be part of an executive committee to look into a comprehensive strategy for the unhoused community in Birmingham. More information to follow.

We held 79 site visits for the Spring 2026 grant cycle. Thanks to the GREC Committee members and other volunteers who came out to serve on a site review team. The GREC met this month and recommended 67 applicants for funding; the Board will make final approvals in May. 

In late April, the Community Foundation submitted a proposal to the Gates Foundation for its Philanthropic Partnerships Team’s AI to Accelerate Charitable Giving Grand Challenge, which aims to enhance human decision-making with AI-powered tools, data, and insights.

On April 2, Community Foundation staff participated in an all-day training session with Austin Senseman, co-founder of Birmingham AI, a nonprofit focused on AI education.

The Community Foundation Board approved a grant of $90,000 to Prosper Birmingham to support collaborative efforts to develop funder relationships and bring more national funding to the region. Over the past three years, the coalition has brought $7.6 million from major national funders to the region for an investment of only $333,000. The Community Foundation has been involved in these efforts, but through this plan, we will participate in biweekly strategy sessions with consultant Whiteboard and the partners, help guide strategy, and participate in national funder visits and conferences. Our funding and involvement will help bolster these efforts while also advancing the Community Foundation’s goal of expanding its national presence and connections.   

In March, Gus Heard-Hughes and Estela Tirado joined fellow community foundations from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi in the postsecondary success cohort for a learning convening in Atlanta with Southern Education Foundation. This was a great opportunity for peer sharing on postsecondary success plans and learning from other foundations that are further down the road in this work – particularly Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, which has seen strong progress in helping students persist in and graduate from college and other postsecondary programs. We are making final budget adjustments with our four local partners as they dig into their planning for the collaborative summer bridge program to give incoming college freshman a strong start.   

The Catalyst Council recommended and the Community Foundation Board approved an additional $400,000 to pilot microtransit in the City of Homewood. We are preparing for a mid-April presentation at Homewood’s pre-Council meeting. The Homewood City Council will vote at the end of April on whether to proceed with a 1.25 year pilot starting in July 2026. If the pilot goes well, Homewood would have to budget continued funding for microtransit starting in FY28. BJCTA met again with the City of Irondale about a potential microtransit pilot and is helping Irondale do a resident survey to gauge need and interest. The Community Foundation funded a 2019 microtransit pilot in the City of Birmingham; the city has funded the service every year since then in its annual budget and has expanded the program significantly. We believe the Community Foundation could play a similar strategic, catalytic role in Homewood and Irondale, expanding microtransit from a Birmingham system to a regional system.  

Gus Heard-Hughes gave a presentation titled “Microtransit: A Proven Solution” at the Alabama College Attainment Network Conference in March.  

Chris Nanni and Gus Heard-Hughes continued meeting this month with affordable housing leaders to explore strategies for expanding access to affordable housing. We have met with Navigate Affordable Housing Partners, Neighborhood Housing Services of Birmingham, the Birmingham Land Bank Authority, Alethia House, Impact America, Bessemer Redevelopment Corporation, and key individual leaders. There is potential for the Community Foundation to play an important role in resolving issues around cost and homebuyer pipeline. Stay tuned.  

Chris Nanni and Gus Heard-Hughes met with board members of the Birmingham Police Foundation to plan the process for releasing grant funds for connecting cameras at local businesses to the Real Time Crime Center. The Birmingham Police Department is prioritizing businesses to connect with in high-crime areas and reaching out to businesses to sign them up. We also visited the Birmingham Police Department headquarters to see the Real Time Crime Center and learn more about how the stationary cameras and drone cameras are increasing effectiveness at preventing and solving crimes. The system was impressive and shows a lot of promise to increase public safety once fully implemented.   

The GREC met this month and advanced 79 of the 133 eligible brief proposal applicants to the full proposal stage. Site visits will be held in April.  

Chris Nanni has been named a Board member of CFLeads, a national network of community foundations committed to community leadership. His first board meeting took place the week of March 23 in Ft. Lauderdale. CFLeads is undertaking an ambitious $40 million initiative with community foundations to strengthen civic engagement.

We held a final planning session this month with our four local partners in the postsecondary success initiative. Together we finalized a plan for collaborative action that includes a summer bridge program to help students prepare for their first year of college, training for volunteer mentors to expand holistic support to students once they are in college, and virtual support to a broader group of students in the statewide Direct to College Initiative. The goal is to help more Alabama students succeed in college and graduate, replicating strategies that prove effective. The Community Foundation Executive Committee approved grants to the organizations from the $400,000 from ECMC Foundation and $100,000 from Community Foundation Proactive funds to implement this plan over the next two years.     

We participated in a meeting with BJCTA and City of Homewood that served a dual purpose: a ‘Transit 101’ session for the new Homewood leadership and a deeper discussion on a microtransit pilot for Homewood. The cost for a Homewood pilot has increased since our earlier conversations because federal funds that BJCTA could contribute have dried up and because Homewood would ideally need a pilot that ran 1.25 years to get a good data snapshot of usage before they begin budgeting to fund the program in FY28. We are considering some additional funding from the foundation for the pilot. With its new Mayor, Council, and City Manager now in place, Homewood is interested in a pilot; they plan to evaluate and make a decision in April.   

We also met again with BJCTA, Via, and the City of Irondale about bringing microtransit to that city. Via presented three options for scope of service and cost. Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr., is interested but needs to do some follow-up assessment to see what scale of microtransit service the city could sustain.  

We are continuing to meet with Jefferson County and Via about a potential microtransit service in the western part of the county to meet workforce transportation needs.

Over the past year or so, we have explored ways the Community Foundation could play a larger role in increasing affordable housing in the region. We have made recent competitive grants related to housing, and one of our first impact investments was a loan to build eight affordable rental homes in Woodlawn, but we are looking into other opportunities. We met this month with several key leaders in this space to explore some possible innovative solutions. Stay tuned.  

The deadline for applications for the Spring 2025 competitive grant cycle was Jan. 30; 133 organizations submitted applications that passed the eligibility review. Staff and GREC are reviewing proposals and will meet in March to determine which applicants advance to the full proposal round.   

On Feb. 13, the Community Foundation and the Philip A. Morris Fund for the Design Arts hosted a screening of the film “Birmingham’s Front Lawn: 15 Years of Railroad Park” at our office for around 50 participants. The Community Foundation played an integral part in Railroad Park’s development by leading the Three Parks Initiative. 

The Unity Fund Committee met and discussed progress of the 2026 Healing Circles and the Youth Unity Series, two initiatives the fund supported in the past year.

Three half-day Healing Circles have been held so far this year with 135 participants, and the year-long Healing Circle cohort just launched last week.

The new Youth Unity Series brings together youth from YouthServe, Youth Leadership Birmingham, and ACE Alabama to connect, learn, and coordinate action. Two gatherings have been held so far, and the third is planned for March. Full reports to come.  

Gus and Chris met this month with Carlton Peeples, the new Deputy Chief of Public Safety for the City of Birmingham. Recently retired from the FBI, Chief Peeples brings extensive experience to this position. He is charged with coordinating the city’s public safety initiatives and advancing implementation of the 2024 Crime Commission recommendations. We discussed the Community Foundation’s support of two city public safety priorities through the Catalyst Fund: 1) connecting at least 100 cameras at local businesses to the city’s Real Time Crime Center, helping both prevent crime and respond quickly to criminal activity. 2) expanding the Rise Up Birmingham program to reach 75 youth at risk of getting involved in criminal activity in positive alternatives such as business development, service projects, and community leadership. We made a good connection with Chief Peeples and agreed to work in close coordination.  

The Avondale Innovation team met this month and is gearing up its plans for surveying, phone banking, and canvassing in the Avondale community. The purpose of this effort is to explore ways to encourage more families currently living in in the Avondale school zone to send their children to Avondale Elementary School, creating a school population that is closer to the neighborhoods it serves socioeconomically and racially. Funded by a grant from the Catalyst Fund at the Community Foundation, this phase will gather information on families’ concerns and needs to help inform strategies for school innovation.  

We facilitated a planning session this month with our four local partners in the postsecondary success initiative. With support from the Community Foundation and national funders Southern Education Foundation and ECMC Foundation (a total of $500,000 in funding), four local organizations are harnessing their strengths to collaborate for greater impact. To help more students succeed in college, these organizations are planning a summer bridge program to help students get a strong launch into their first year of college and training volunteer mentors to provide comprehensive support to students throughout college. This model builds on the experience of all four partners but adds new innovations that we hope will expand the reach of postsecondary support and serve as a replicable model.   

We met this month with new leadership from City of Homewood – including the mayor and the interim City Manager – and BJCTA to revisit the proposal for a microtransit pilot in Homewood. The response from city leaders was positive, and we planned a follow up work session in February with the mayor, city councilors, and key staff to dig into details. We also solidified a February microtransit meeting with the City of Irondale and met again with Jefferson County about a potential microtransit program to meet workforce transportation needs. The Birmingham microtransit program saw some cutbacks this month due to budget limitations, but the service zones remain largely the same. The Birmingham service is averaging over 20,000 rides a month, which represents a growing demand in utilization of the service. 

Progress on the Collaborative Care pilot with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama to bring more mental health services to medical clinics is slow but steadily advancing. Cahaba Medical, a federally qualified health center that is a long-time Community Foundation partner and grantee, just got added as the fourth pilot clinic, with five providers signing on. Conversations with two other clinics look promising. Training has been slow to take shape, but we are making headway on the hurdle, and we are also making progress with BCBS on metrics. Despite the slow pace, we are pleased that BCBS has fully bought into this pilot and is demonstrating serious commitment to implementing the project.   

Gus joined a small leadership group of funders and business accelerators to inform a structure being developed by Evergold Impact that would facilitate more high-quality impact investing opportunities in the region. Based on feedback from the group, Evergold is working on a second iteration of its framework.   

The Spring 2025 competitive grant cycle launched in early January; the deadline for applications is Jan. 30.    

The Philip A. Morris Fund for Design Arts Committee met this month to do planning for the annual lecture and select a slate of eight candidates for the 2026 Walkable Cities program at Harvard University.  We also met with two committee members and Kulture City to work on next steps for the Morris grant-funded design of the outdoor space for the emerging National Invisible Disabilities Learning Center at the Powell Avenue Steam Plant, including moving quickly to select a top-notch design firm.  

A new companion fund for the Remy Fund for Pets and Animal Services was established this month to allow donors to give to immediate grantmaking through the current year’s Remy Fund grant cycle.