Mayor’s Minute By Ashley Curry- August 2021

Thank goodness that the pandemic is tapering off and we are returning to some “normalcy.” It certainly felt good to be outside with many of you at “I Love America Day” in Wald Park. It felt good to socially interact after a year or more of isolation and canceled city events. By the way, it was estimated that over 1,000 citizens attended this year’s event. I have received many favorable comments about the Wald Park facilities and the event itself. Thanks to the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce for organizing the event.

With the decreased threat of the virus, I am optimistic that the city will be able to resume several very important programs that were scaled back during the pandemic.

One such program is the Phoenix Program. This program became operational in July 2019. Its purpose is to assist individuals struggling with addiction. In Greek mythology, the phoenix was a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerated. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtained new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. Vestavia Hills is committed to assisting individuals that are struggling with substance abuse. This intervention program would provide an opportunity for individuals that realize their addiction to seek counseling or recovery assistance through our police and fire departments.

The pandemic curtailed our efforts to promote the program and partner with the resource agencies that provide assessment and other services.

We care about all of our citizens including those with substance abuse disease and this program will provide an opportunity for addicted individuals to “rise from the ashes” of their past. This program also has some volunteer opportunities for citizens to become involved with

the program.

Also, we will be revamping our efforts to raise awareness about opioid abuse and drug overdose deaths through our “Freedom from Addiction Coalition” (FFAC). The FFAC was started in 2017 and several awareness breakfast meetings were held until the pandemic limited our ability to meet. Our FFAC Advisory Board recently met to discuss “next steps” in raising awareness by the most effective means. You will hear more about this in the near future.

We will initiate some training opportunities for our senior citizens regarding the many prevalent “scams” perpetrated against our seniors. These training sessions were well received but had to be discontinued due to the virus. We are working on these and partnering with our senior services resource agencies and our senior program staff with Parks and Recreation.

Another program that needs our attention is “Elder Abuse.” By some estimations, over 75,000 cases of elder abuse happen every year in Alabama alone. As the 65+ population is the fastest growing age group and now comprises over 40 million people, cases of abuse are also more likely to occur. Unbelievably, the majority of elder abuse cases are committed by family members or caregivers.

We will be addressing this issue and coordinating with the United Way’s Area Agency on Aging for in-person and on-line programs.

I hope you have had an enjoyable summer to date. It won’t be long before our students will be gearing up for school. Please remember to shop locally. Our small businesses need your support.