Birmingham Crisis Center searches for new Junior Board members
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Birmingham's Crisis Center aims to serve the unmet needs of central Alabama, aiding those who are experiencing personal crises or mental health issues.
One aspect of the Crisis Center is the Junior Board, which is composed of community members and Crisis Center volunteers.
"A big part of our job is volunteer appreciation," said Baylee Clark, Crisis Center Junior Board president. "The work that our volunteers do is essential to the Crisis Center, and so as the Junior Board, we try to support them. Whether it be writing them thank you notes, bringing Halloween candy by the volunteer room, providing breakfast for rape response trainings, things like that."
This year, the Junior Board brought back the Crisis Center's annual Bocce Bash fundraiser. This event helps raise money to fund the Michael K. Falligant Scholarship that the Junior Board presents every year.
"In addition to that, the Junior Board helps with Santa for Seniors, which we do every December," Clark said. "Through that program, we deliver Christmas gifts to seniors that may not have anybody bringing them gifts."
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Junior Board Vice President Nicholas Brown has been involved in the Junior Board since August of 2023.
"I think the Crisis Center is critical. They provide services for folks that might have mental health issues, or any issues regarding abuse. Things that make it difficult for folks who, you know, generally don't have that resource where they can reach out to people," Brown said.
The Crisis Center offers many resources to the central Alabama area, including a crisis line, rape response, an on-call sexual assault nurse examiner, a youth talk line and a senior talk line.
"I think that one of the unique things about the Crisis Center is that it really does serve people from all walks of life, from all stages of life," Clark said. "This is unique, because it's something that doesn't get as much attention as other issues get, and it's something that can be harder to talk about than other things, which is exactly why we need to pay attention to it, and we need to help. Whether it's donating time or donating money to causes like this.
The Crisis Center's Junior Board is currently seeking new members to join their team.
"As we're restructuring, it's important that we get new Junior Board members who are eager to help. We want to be able to have a Junior Board that's representative of the Birmingham Population," Clark said. "I think it's important that we have members who kind of come from all walks of life and can bring different perspectives to the Junior Board."
