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Tracey Martin left her kids at home, but brought her employees to KultureBall, an annual gala hosted by Kulture City. Martin, a mother of four and owner of Purpose Place Thrift Market in Irondale, only employees people with a developmental or intellectual disability, which made the event, held Saturday, August 6 at the Haven Building, the perfect place for a night out.
Kulture City is a nonprofit founded in Birmingham to raise awareness for autism and help those affected by autism through different initiatives. KultureBall raises awareness for autism and funds for the organization, which is run entirely by volunteers.
In addition to auctions and dinner, the black-tie event featured LifeWALK. Attendees gave $20 for a 36-second walk on a runway, representing the amount of time it takes for a child to wander and possibly drown. The $20 donation went toward LifeBOKS, one of the initiatives Kulture City launched last year, which provides the parents of an autistic child a bracelet that sync with their phone so that they can keep track of their child.
Several local and national celebrities attended, including Alimi Ballard, star of ABC’s “The Catch,” Madeline Stuart, a model with Down Syndrome and Caren Zucker, ABC World News producer and author.
Vestavia Hills resident Anne Boston, a member of the Board of Directors for Glenwood, an organization that provides behavioral health care and educational services for individuals with autism, has watched several people with autism grow from preschoolers to adults. She said that Kulture City provides several much-needed services and for an underfunded issue.
“I don’t have autism in my family, but I’ve seen what it does to families,” Boston said. “Autism is on the rise, but, unfortunately, funding doesn’t go along with the rising of the issue. Autism is not funded as well as it should be.”
For Martin, who has two sons with different degrees of autism, the event represented support for individuals with autism and families with an autistic member.
“Its overwhelming to see the support that’s out there,” Martins said. “It started off as a very small minority of people that supported us…As a parent, it means a lot that people are understanding now.”
Martin said that the community awareness is extremely important to those with autism.
“These families and these kids with autism need communities,” Martin said. “They need people to understand what they’re going through. They need the support. These kids and these families are struggling and they need to feel loved and included.”
