This revitalization kick-off event follows ribbon-cuttings held in two other Live HealthSmart Alabama demonstration communities, Titusville and Kingston, earlier this year.
(Photography: Quez Shipman)On Dec. 2, residents of Bush Hills joined BL Harbert International and Live HealthSmart Alabama, a University of Alabama at Birmingham initiative powered by the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center, to begin work in Bush Hills.
This revitalization kick-off event follows ribbon-cuttings held in the two other Live HealthSmart Alabama demonstration communities of Titusville and Kingston earlier this year, making Bush Hills the third neighborhood to embark on this journey toward better health for all. To help facilitate the improvements in the built environment, BL Harbert has taken on the role as the lead construction partner on the project.
“BL Harbert has roots in the community and strives to serve the areas in which they work,” said CEO of Live HealthSmart Alabama Mona Fouad, M.D. “We are excited about this partnership and look forward to working together, alongside the community, to make Bush Hills a healthy, more accessible neighborhood.”
Chuck Bohn, BL Harbert International Group president, presented a surprise gift to the Bush Hills revitalization team — a produce stand using a retrofitted shipping container equipped with a sink, refrigerator, electricity and air conditioning — making it the perfect place to prepare and distribute the community garden’s harvest to neighbors.
(Photography: Quez Shipman)“It was great to see the efforts of so many come together to kick off the revitalization of Bush Hills. BL Harbert is grateful for this opportunity to utilize our building expertise to support one of our local communities,” Bohn said. “It is an honor to join forces with UAB, Live HealthSmart Alabama and the Bush Hills community.”
During the kick-off event, volunteers were assigned community projects that would be carried out throughout the neighborhood, including courtyard and general cleanup, tree and flower planting, pine straw and mulch placement, leaf blowing, and power washing.
“Within a few short years, we have been able to do unbelievable things here in Bush Hills,” Bush Hills Connections President Joanice Thompson said.
Using years of research and work in communities across the South, Live HealthSmart Alabama has developed a plan to make good health simple by improving the areas of healthy eating, prevention and wellness, and physical activity in communities across Alabama. It is this plan that will guide the work being done in Bush Hills.
“The neighbors of Bush Hills came together and created an action plan with a dream to restore the neighborhood,” said Bush Hills Neighborhood Association President Walladean Streeter. “And today, our dream is becoming a reality with the help of each of you.”