By June Mathews Some of Dr. Stephen Russell’s earliest memories are being read to and hearing bedtime stories told by his father. With a love for spoken stories instilled in him from a young age, it’s only natural that he would enjoy verbally sharing stories with others. In fact, Russell now reads and interprets stories for his kids in the “Dad’s Summer Book Club” he … [Read more...]
A Day Away: Encore Ministry Gives Help, Hope to Seniors With Memory Loss and Their Caregivers
By June MathewsPatti Williams knew what she was getting into when she agreed to become program director for Encore, a respite care ministry at Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook. She just didn’t know how great the interest would be.In a matter of months, the program has exceeded her expectations, and with its first anniversary coming up in June, … [Read more...]
A Taste of Freedom: Director of Equestrian Program Uses Horses to Help Disabled Riders
By June MathewsKathleen Claybrook has been around horses her whole life. She had a horse of her own growing up, and she credits horseback riding with helping her shine as a youngster.“It gave a small kid like me the opportunity to be athletic,” she said.For the past 24 years, Claybrook’s horsemanship has served her well as the executive director of Special … [Read more...]
Clearing the Path: Women’s Fund is Making a Way for Single Moms to Break the Cycle of Poverty
By June Mathews As a mother, Jeanne Jackson knows firsthand what it’s like to want the best for her children. As executive director of The Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham, Jackson works to help other mothers wanting the same thing for their children.A recent study commissioned under Jackson’s leadership called “Clearing the Path: Removing the Barriers to … [Read more...]
The Simple Way: For Decades, Godfarb Taught Kids at Camp a No-Frills Style of Soccer
By June Mathews For 31 summers, from 1986 through 2016, Preston Goldfarb went to soccer camp. Not only did he go to camp, he daily directed, showed up hours early to prepare for, and taught at camp. But he had a reason – a very good one, in his opinion – that made it all worthwhile. “I wanted to expose children to what I thought was the correct way to play the game, the way … [Read more...]