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GA06080
Presbyterian-founded homeless shelter brings Light to Birmingham More than 1,300 women and children helped in 2005
by Evan Silverstein
BIRMINGHAM, June 18 * It is estimated that on any given night, nearly 3,000 people in the Birmingham area are homeless.
But a beacon of hope shines bright over this southern town, thanks to a homeless shelter for women and children that started modestly 15 years ago in the basement of historic First Presbyterian Church in downtown Birmingham.
On Sunday, 171 people who turned out for a luncheon sponsored by the Witherspoon Society learned about the facility from the Rev. Eugenia A. Gamble, pastor of First Church from 1996-2005.
"The church is extraordinary because it’s a congregation that shows a deep and abiding and unashamed compassion to its members and to its community," said the minister, who is currently a writer-in-residence with Sheppards and Lapsley Presbytery.
Gamble, the luncheon's primary speaker, provided leadership in the development and implementation of the shelter, which is called First Light, Inc. The shelter offers emergency and long-term shelter, psychiatric services and music and arts programming.
At first the shelter provided overnight accommodations for as many as 42 women and children. Now housed in larger quarters, First Light provided refuge to 1,346 homeless women and children in fiscal year 2005, while recording more than 15,000 bed nights of shelter.
About 85 percent of the guests suffered from at least one serious mental illness, with more than 60 percent being either active or recovering addicts, Gamble said during her speech titled "Embodying Love."
A volunteer work force of 1,500 logged more than 7,000 hours last year. It was such work that earned Gamble the Outstanding Woman of the Year Award for 2004, presented by the Women’s Center of Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.
Gamble showed a brief video featuring people who passed through the doors at First Light.
"I know why they call it First Light," a woman who was helped by the program said in the video. "The light comes back in your eyes, in your heart."
Several years ago, Gamble led a campaign to raise more than $2 million to transform a Birmingham hotel into the center’s new home.
Gamble said her initial efforts to raise funds were often met with indifference or animosity. However, she tenaciously pounded the pavement for financial support from the city, community and corporate leaders.
Also among the concerns, she said, were the spiritual health of a congregation and its willingness to be good stewards, along with gaining acceptance from members for engaging in a long-term fundraising campaign.
Gamble said, "I think that before you can get into a big project like this, if there are major conflicts in the life of the congregation, then that needs to be acknowledged and addressed."
The Witherspoon Society, which bills itself as "a community of progressive Presbyterians," presented its Whole Gospel Congregation Award to First Presbyterian Church.
The group also presented the Andrew Murray Award to peace activists the Rev. Tom Driver and Anne Barstow in recognition of their strong roles in developing accompaniment programs in Colombia, Haiti and Central America.
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Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 (888) 728-7228