Special Feature
This holiday season, Homewood’s Community Grief Support (CGS) is celebrating the lives of those we’ve lost in our community. At a time when there has been so much grief due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other losses, the Homewood community as well as all of Birmingham needs a positive way to find hope and healing.
The ‘Tree of Lights’ memorial, taking place this November and December, will honor our late loved ones with the lighting of a 12-foot holiday tree in Homewood’s Central Park, at the corner of Oxmoor Road and Central Ave., in one of the most visible locations in the city. Like the tradition of Homewood residential streets lined with miniature holiday trees, our large “Tree of Lights” in Central Park will mimic the twinkling lights–not just bringing cheer to residents and those who pass by–but honoring those who have passed on.
“This has been an idea that we’ve been thinking about for a long time, and this holiday season, all the pieces came together perfectly for us to place the first tree in Central Park. In the future, we hope to spread out to other communities in the Birmingham area. We believe that the ‘Tree of Lights’ will bring the community of Homewood and Birmingham together to provide a much needed memorial and balm for our losses,” said Lisa Sims Harrison, administrative director of Community Grief Support.
Donors and passersby can sponsor a light and receive gifts in memory of their loved one(s) through various donation opportunities:
- $25 donation receives memorial card sent to up to three addresses of your choice in the name of a lost loved one and sponsorship of a light on the tree.
- $75 donation receives handmade pottery luminary by Alabama artist Lisa Howard with candle to light your own home and sponsorship of a light on the tree.
- $100 donation receives beautiful, antique gold personalized ornament with velvet ribbon for your tree, a permanent holiday reminder of this special memorial, and sponsorship of a light on the tree.
All proceeds go to provide completely free: individual, couples and family grief counseling; loss-specific grief support groups; and community grief education programs such as “Hope for the Holidays” sessions for those who are facing their first holiday after a loss. For more information about the Tree of Lights please call CGS at 205-870-8667 or click here. †
