Special Feature
Following the loss of her 25-year-old son to addiction in 2012, Trussville, Ala.’s Lisa Bright started the Will Bright Foundation (WBF) to ensure stable next step recovery resources and support for men who have maintained up to six months of sobriety following rehabilitation. “We knew we wanted to serve in the space of next step recovery because that is where Will struggled the most,” Bright said. “He could graduate from any recovery program, but then it became, ‘Now what do I do?’”
Taking residence on sprawling donated property in Fayette, Ala., Restoration Springs is WBF’s next step/transitional living facility. Participants in the program are offered housing, transportation, small groups, Bible studies, scholarships, a savings program, and even opportunities to obtain a driver’s license and jobs. Although they can graduate in nine months, guests are encouraged to stay for between a year and a half to two years to achieve the best results. While the efforts at Restoration Springs are key to WBF’s mission, the organization also focuses on making changes to legislation in Montgomery and Washington D.C. Active in an advocacy group known as Voices for Non-Opioid Choices, which seeks to further pain management bills across the country, they successfully lobbied to pass the No Pain Act to ensure non-opioid treatment is covered under Medicare. While the group seeks to expand legislation with an Alternatives to Pain Act and a No Pain for Vets Act, they are not stopping there. “The ultimate goal is for it to come all the way down to private pay because we know where addiction in children starts, and that’s leftover prescriptions in people’s homes,” Bright said. 
In addition to offering rehabilitation and making waves in the United States government, the Will Bright Foundation also hosts a variety of fundraisers and participates in serve days across the state, giving back to the community that has given them so much. “We’re a non-profit,” Bright said, adding, “We survive on donations, grants, and fundraisers, and we have some program fees that we collect to help fund our mission.” Save the date for WBF’s Giving Restoration Luncheon on April 21, 2026. The fundraising event will welcome guests to the Grand Bohemian Hotel Ballroom in Mountain Brook to enjoy a delicious meal and hear from the likes of Auburn Basketball’s Coaches Bruce and Steven Pearl, as well as WBRC’s Janice Rodgers serving as emcee. “It’s going to be a very conversational thing about how the father and son dynamic plays such a key role in your life,” Bright said. For more information about WBF and its upcoming events, visit www.willbrightfoundation.com.
-Nicholas Wetzel
