Local Construction Company Boosts Mission’s Efforts to Help more People
For many years those eating the hearty meals served at Birmingham’s oldest rescue mission have had to eat in shifts due to the cramped conditions in its existing facility on 2nd Avenue North. However, in 2012, Brother Bryan Mission (BBM) purchased the building two doors down and began remodeling it in three phases- the largest phase being a new Kitchen and Dining Hall that will seat close to a hundred people. “This will double the size of the existing Kitchen and Dining Hall,” explained Executive Director, Jim Etheredge.
Brother Bryan was not planning on getting to this phase of their Master Plan until 2017, but Grayson Construction, a local contractor, approached Etheredge about helping BBM in some way. “The Lord has blessed us this year and we want to give back,” said Dustin Love, a principal with Grayson Construction. Love had toured Brother Bryan’s facilities on a previous occasion and had heard the testimonies of several of the clients being helped through one of the programs offered by BBM. “I was amazed at what was being done with the men at Brother Bryan Mission,” Love said, “so when the opportunity arose for us to help someone I thought of them.”
Brother Bryan Mission was awarded a three year grant by the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham to help with the capital costs associated with remodeling the new building. Other foundations and generous contributors have also helped BBM get to this point but “we still need to raise about $350,000 to complete the project,” Etheredge said. Those interested can go to www.brotherbryan.com and designate their gift for the “Kitchen Project” or you can mail a contribution directly to the mission at P.O. Box 11254, Birmingham, 35202. Learn more at www.bbmission.com. †
