Hayden Patton, Mitchell’s Place:
‘I Wanted to be a Part of Something That Is Helping Children’
By Keysha Drexel
Journal editor
Growing up in Mountain Brook, Hayden Patton said serving the community was just a part of her everyday life.
The 31-year-old said some of her fondest childhood memories are of going to work with her late grandmother, Laura Emma “L.E.” Patton, when Patton was on staff at Magic Moments, a nonprofit organization in Birmingham that fulfills the non-medical wishes of chronically ill Alabama children.
“From a very early age, I was exposed to a nonprofit environment and taught the responsibility to do something to give back to other people,” Patton said.
To fulfill that responsibility she feels to give back, Patton serves on the junior council of Mitchell’s Place, a family-oriented, comprehensive treatment and services center for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Mitchell’s Place is on Overton Road in Birmingham.
Established in 2005, Mitchell’s Place is the vision of Nancy Allen Meisler. The couple’s son, Mitchell, was diagnosed with autism at age 2, and they struggled to find appropriate services in the Birmingham area for him. At that time, the only option was for Mitchell to receive special therapy as a preschool student in the public school system. The 45 minutes per week of special therapy did little to help Mitchell’s progress, so his parents looked elsewhere for answers.
After extensive research, including studying the Auburn University Autism Center, the Meislers help fund the building of Mitchell’s Place.
Now, Mitchell’s Place is a center where all services for the diagnosis and treatment of autism are under one roof. Mitchell’s Place is also a multidisciplinary resource center that serves children and adults with services in psychology, psychiatry, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy.
Additionally, the center works collaboratively with other organizations and universities to apply and support research efforts to identify the best practices in the treatment of autism.
The Mitchell’s Place Junior Council is a group of young professionals in their 20s and 30s whose goal is to increase awareness of autism and provide support for Mitchell’s Place.
Patton, who graduated from Mountain Brook High School and the University of Alabama, said she became involved with the junior council through her job as a recruiter for Northwestern Mutual.
“Someone we worked with had a son who had gone through the program at Mitchell’s Place, and one of our managing partners saw the impact it had on his life, and the company became a sponsor of the center,” Patton said.
Patton said she thinks she was drawn to volunteering at Mitchell’s Place due to her grandmother’s influence.
“I got involved with Mitchell’s Place because I wanted to be a part of something that is helping children,” she said. “I think that goes back to my grandmother and seeing the difference she and the other staff and volunteers made in the lives of the Magic Moments children.”
Patton said she also feels blessed that her company is a good civic partner in the community.
“In the three years I’ve been with the company, they have really instilled in us the idea that we should do all we can to help others,” Patton said. “Adam Rhodes, our managing partner, and Jennifer Evans, another colleague who is a working mother of three, inspire me to step up my game when it comes to philanthropy.”
Patton’s efforts to champion the cause of Mitchell’s Place have not gone unnoticed, said Frederick Blackmon, the center’s director of development.
“In her first meeting, she volunteered to represent Mitchell’s Place in a philanthropic competition, which demonstrates her commitment to Mitchell’s Place and our Junior Council,” Blackmon said. “We are thrilled to have Hayden on our Junior Council.”
Patton and other members of the junior council are the keys to future achievements at Mitchell’s Place said Sandy Naramore, the center’s executive director.
“Hayden is passionate about Mitchell’s Place and eager to assist the children and families who attend our programs,” Naramore said. “Mitchell’s Place is proud to have Hayden Patton and other young professionals who are driven to serve the community on our Junior Council.”
Patton said she thinks many young professionals from the Over the Mountain area are driven to make a difference because of the importance placed on counting your blessings in their communities.
“We’ve grown up in an area and in Over the Mountain schools where you were taught how lucky you are and that you should be grateful for all the opportunities you have,” she said. “We’re taught that you should use those opportunities, those blessings, to help other people.”
Patton said she’s constantly inspired to champion Mitchell’s Place by the children and families she meets through her work with the center.
“The most rewarding part has to be the relationships I have built,” she said. “Seeing that you are a part of something that is really making a difference, that is going to be able to give someone a better quality of life, is very inspiring.”
Patton said there’s nothing wrong with simply writing a check to a nonprofit or charity organization to support it but said she prefers a more hands-on approach to her philanthropic pursuits.
“Doing something is better than doing nothing. If you don’t have time to volunteer, it’s great if you can help financially,” she said. “But I think it makes a bigger impact on you when you are actually part of the events, like the golf tournament we have to raise money for Mitchell’s Place.”
While Patton said she is hard-pressed to think of someone her age that doesn’t give back in some way or another, she said those who are looking to volunteer or serve on junior boards in the Birmingham metro area have plenty of options.
“There are so many different causes,” she said. “There are things that help animals, there are organizations for children, for the elderly. There’s no shortage of organizations in our area that need help in their missions.”
Patton said she thinks it is important that young professionals find organizations and causes that resonate deeply with them.
“I really think it has to be something that you are passionate about for you to have the greatest impact,” she said.
Choosing where she wanted to have the greatest impact, Patton said, was simple.
“For me, finding the cause I wanted to work for was easy because I’ve always loved helping children because for the most part, they can’t help themselves,” she said. “I feel it’s our duty as adults to take care of those that can’t take care of themselves yet.”
Patton, who is also on the junior board at Cornerstone Schools of Alabama, said she is determined to keep up her philanthropic work, no matter how her life might change in the future.
“I’m a single girl now and I don’t have kids of my own, so I have a lot of time and energy I can devote to Mitchell’s Place and other nonprofits,” she said. “But I can’t imagine volunteer work or community service not being a part of my life,” she said.
