Name: Jennifer White
Age: 35
Residence: Vestavia Hills
Occupation: Manager at Energen/Alagasco in Birmingham.
Education: Graduate of Vestavia Hills High School and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Organization: The Horizons School junior board member.
For more information: Visit www.horizonsschool.org.
Jennifer White, Horizons School Junior Board Member:
‘I Can’t Imagine Not Being Involved’
By Keysha Drexel
Journal editor
In the last year she has served on the junior board of Horizons School, Jennifer White said she’s learned that there’s more to real philanthropy that writing a check.
The 35-year-old Vestavia Hills woman said by volunteering at the school in Birmingham that aims to help young people with intellectual disabilities learn how to live independently, she has seen the true value of giving her time.
“I think that it’s a more valuable contribution to give your time than it is to give your money,” she said. “If you give your time, you’re investing yourself in something you believe in instead of writing a check and forgetting about it.”
White found out about Horizons School through Energen/Alagasco in Birmingham, where she works as a manager. She’s been with the company since she was 19.
White said there’s a strong culture of community service at her office, and she has served as chairman of the company’s service committee. She volunteered at Horizons School for a few years before being asked to join the junior board by Anita Bosley, the school’s development and public relations manager.
Bosley said White is someone who goes above and beyond her duties to the junior board, works hard for the school and is always recruiting new volunteers to help Horizons.
“She is the whole package–fundraiser, advocate, volunteer,” Bosley said.
Horizons School is one of the few schools in the country that offers a college-like experience for 18- to 26-year-olds with intellectual and learning disabilities. First opened in the early 1990s as a part of the UAB School of Education, it became a private, nonprofit school in 2000. The school opened a new 10,000-square-foot building on 15th Avenue South in Southside in 2006.
Students come from across the nation to attend Horizons School, which offers a two-year core program and an optional third year program where students learn career independence, personal independence, social independence and self-determination.
During the first two years of the program, students are required to live in the campus apartments with roommates. They learn to manage their finances, use public transportation, cook healthy meals and look after their living space.
“One of my favorite ways to volunteer at Horizons is to help the kids move into the dorms. We help them move their stuff in and set up their kitchens,” White said. “It’s such an exciting day for them, just like going away to college is exciting for every other kid. To be a part of their special day is really rewarding.”
White graduated from Vestavia Hills High School in 1996 and then earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“I think back on my college experience and how fun that was, and I think a lot of people can take that for granted,” she said. “For these kids, after high school, they are not guaranteed that kind of experience. That’s why what they do at Horizons is so important.”
White said what the students get at Horizons School is more than just a college-like experience. The school’s mission is to have its graduates be motivated and determined young adults who become active participants in their community and live productive, independent lives as adults.
“We also help them get jobs when they finish at the school. We’ll do mock interviews with them so they can practice and help them with their resumes,” she said.
A survey conducted in 2006 showed that 91 percent of the school’s graduates have jobs and 63 percent of the graduates live away from home. Additionally, the school website says approximately 25-30 percent of its graduates remain in the Birmingham area and are involved in community service at homeless shelters, food kitchens, animal shelters and other agencies.
By helping the students learn how to live independently and attain and be successful at jobs, Horizons School is strengthening the entire community, White said.
“Horizons doesn’t let them fall through the cracks. It gives them the tools they need to be on their own so that one day, they, too, can give back and help others,” she said.
Now that she’s been involved with the school for a few years, White said she’s had the pleasure of watching students grow in their skills and confidence and graduate from the program.
“I went to the graduation ceremony last year, and I think it was one of the most touching things I’ve ever seen,” she said.
White and her husband, Jonathan, have been married for five years and have a dog named Lola.
“I don’t have kids yet, so right now, I have the time to give to the kids at Horizons School,” she said. “But even after I have kids, I can’t imagine not being involved and helping out in some way. I can definitely see myself continuing to volunteer in some way for a very long time.”
White’s next major volunteering project for the school is the Hearts for Horizons fundraiser in February. Supporters of the school can participate in the 5K, half marathon, full marathon or relay of the Mercedes Marathon Feb. 15-16 and have the proceeds from their registration fees go directly to the school.
“The junior board is always looking for events and coming up with ways to raise money to support the school. I’m already recruiting volunteers for Hearts for Horizons,” she said.
White said she advises those new to Birmingham or looking for volunteer opportunities to check with their employers first.
“We have a lot of companies in our city that are very generous, and most of them have community service programs already in place,” she said.
But if a company isn’t already involved in philanthropic causes, White said she suggests those looking to give back take charge of the situation.
“If your company doesn’t have a service committee or another kind of group like that, start one yourself. All it takes is one person standing up and saying they are willing to help, and that motivates other people to want to do the same thing,” she said.