Photo courtesy of the Crisis Center.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin during his remarks at the 2018 Holiday Giving Breakfast, a fundraiser for the Crisis Center of Birmingham.
The Crisis Center of Birmingham serves the community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with a wide range of important services designed to help people cope with tough situations.
The organization provides crisis intervention and prevention, as well as sexual assault support, mental health support and addiction recovery support.
“We believe that our services touch everyone in our community,” said Crisis Center spokesperson Janet Simpson-Templin. “Whether you or a loved one, friend, coworker or acquaintance are experiencing struggles due to depression, anxiety, suicide, sexual assault, mental illness or addiction, all of us have some experience with these types of crisis.”
In order to continue this valuable work, the Crisis Center will soon host its second largest annual fundraiser, the Holiday Giving Breakfast, in the Diamonds Direct Ballroom at Regions Field on Dec. 10 beginning at 7 a.m.
Attendees at the event, which has been held each year since in 2012, will hear inspiring stories of transformation from people who have faced their own tough situations in the past.
Admission to the event is free, and attendees receive a complimentary breakfast. Guests will also learn how they can help support the Crisis Center and make sure these needed services continue.
The 2018 breakfast, which was held at Protective Life, raised over $45,000, according to Simpson-Templin. Protective Life is the presenting sponsor for this year’s fundraiser.
Attendance at the event, which began in 2012, has grown each year, and more than 250 people are expected in 2019, she said.
Those in attendance are a diverse group. “Our guests range from C-Level executives to those working in law enforcement and helping professions,” Simpson-Templin said. “We aim to create an atmosphere that reflects who we are as an organization — open, inviting and inclusive of everyone.”
The people who share their stories of transformation are community members, many in leadership positions, who have a “personal connection” to the Crisis Center’s mission, she said.
“Often they have experienced a personal crisis and may have even used the services of the Crisis Center themselves, or are connected to someone who has,” she said.
“Our speakers often tell stories that are deeply personal, about their own path to healing, or their experience working with others as they heal from trauma and personal crisis,” Simpson-Templin said.
Along with two or three of these community speakers, the featured guest speaker will be Dr. Dale Wisely.
Breakfast will be served at 7 a.m., and the program will take place from 7:30-8:30 a.m.
Due to limited space, those wishing to attend the breakfast should RSVP at crisiscenterbham.org.
For more information, call 205-458-8995 or go to the website.
