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NIK LAYMAN PHOTO/VIDEO
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Leadership Vestavia Hills is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Community Leadership Awards. Antoinette (Toni) Vines, founder and president of Mercy Deliverance Ministries, will receive the Distinguished Citizen Award, and Karen Odle, president of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. They will be honored at a dinner on Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. at Vestavia Country Club. This event also celebrates the organization’s 25th anniversary.
Toni, a long-time Vestavia Hills resident, grew up in Mulga. As a young adult, she spent four years serving her country in the United States Army Reserve. From there, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, graduating cum laude, and embarked on a nursing career. She had received the “Outstanding Student Award” in community health nursing. Unknown to her then, this laid the foundation for what would later become Mercy Deliverance Ministries.
She worked as a nurse supervisor at Brookwood Baptist Medical Center in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and as a clinical nurse in Adult HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease at UAB’s 1917 Clinic.
Over time, with her strong faith and prayer life and her own compelling life story, Mercy Deliverance Ministries was established. Toni had a growing concern about communities in the Birmingham area and beyond where people needed health care and food, as well as a path out of poverty. The mission of Mercy Deliverance Ministries aims to break cycles of poverty through the delivery of fresh food and produce, healthcare, and education
She organizes and brings volunteers together to serve people whom others don’t see or have forgotten. The ministry has reached as far as Hawaii and is growing. She oversees such things as monthly food-box distributions, a mobile grocery store housed in a bus, distribution of care packages to the homeless, the American Heart Association’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Scholars’ partnership between Auburn University and Tuskegee University, and the development of a mobile health clinic.
Toni’s whole family is involved—her husband Tim and three daughters, LaTrisha, Hannah, and Angelica, who were all raised in Vestavia Hills.
Karen Odle, a native of Jasper, settled in Vestavia Hills as a young professional and was employed at BellSouth and AT&T for 16 years, with her last role as a Systems Designer. Using her UAB degree in Management – Information Systems and her work at AT&T, she did freelance consulting for large companies throughout the area
After marriage to Steve Odle and two children, Erin and Tyler, Karen became heavily involved as a school volunteer and was tapped for leadership positions. As PTA president at Vestavia Hills Elementary West, she designed and installed a computer in every classroom and trained teachers to use them. For that accomplishment, Principal Alice Laurendine nominated her for the Golden Rule Award from JC Penney, which she received. Karen then served as president of the Vestavia Hills PTA Council. In 2001, she was appointed to the Vestavia Hills Board of Education, where she served five years, including a year as president. She is a 1998 graduate of Leadership Vestavia Hills and a 2007 graduate of Leadership Birmingham.
In 1999, she and several other concerned Vestavia Hills residents formed a political action group called Vestavia Voters with Visions (V3). After seeking input from citizens, the group backed a slate of candidates for City Council and Mayor. With a 48% voter turnout, the city got new leadership. This resulted in greatly enhanced community participation in governance and increased the sense of community among residents.
In 2002, she accepted the job of Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce president, realizing that a strong business community was an important component of a strong city. During Karen’s tenure, the Chamber has grown from 296 members to 1,102 in January 2022. It is the largest Chamber in Jefferson County and enjoys a robust relationship with the city and the school system.
Because of many recurring sponsors, the Chamber has been able to implement many programs that improve the economic well-being of the city and ensure a high quality of life.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped small businesses navigate various grants, loans, and funding opportunities to help them keep afloat.
After almost two decades as Chamber president, she will retire this spring, and is looking forward to spending more time with her family and especially her grandchildren.
Tickets for the dinner are $50 and can be purchased at leadershipvestaviahills.com. They are also available at the office of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce. For sponsorship information, contact Penny Lewallyn at lewallyn@aol.com or call at (205) 223-7381.
-- Submitted by Mary Ann Appling
