This week, The City of Selma partnered with the Selma AmeriCorps Neighborhood Development Initiative Program to host its annual AmeriCorps Week. | The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information By Faith Callens Special to The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information This week, The City of Selma partnered with the Selma AmeriCorps Neighborhood Development Initiative Program to host its annual AmeriCorps Week. The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information also participated in their week to showcase the members of AmeriCorps and their efforts to beautify the city of Selma. AmeriCorps Week is a nationwide celebration of national service that highlights the measurable impact of AmeriCorps members while they focus on strengthening communities through workforce development, hands on service and civic engagement, according to the Selma AmeriCorps Director Jasmine Robinson. On Monday, March 9, the Selma AmeriCorps Program started their week off with the theme “Member Monday” that focused on the fundamentals of community capacity building through its initial revitalization training held at city hall. The training consisted of members learning their role in neighborhood restoration and economic development while simultaneously learning how to utilize the proper tools to get the beautification experience started in the city of Selma. On Tuesday, March 10, the program held its second day of service through its theme called “Testimony Tuesday” where there was a resident- led revitalization day. The day consisted of the Selma AmeriCorps team partnering together with residents to beautify Broad Street, Washington Street including Riverfront Park by adding new and improved street gardens in Downtown Selma. On Wednesday, March 11, the members of the program specifically continued beautifying those streets and they added one more street to the beautification experience, which was the city’s historic Water Avenue. As the team gathered the mulch for each street and the flower baskets to improve the street gardens, the team honored their Wednesday theme called “Working Together Wednesday” by putting forth a collaborative effort to stay on task and work together. AmeriCorps member Tammi Holley said during the city beautification efforts Wednesday that she has been a part of the Selma AmeriCorps Program before, back in 2001, and has decided to come to back to assist the program through her job, mStreet Fiber Alabama, LLC. “We’re building a fiber network here that’s going to stretch across 13 counties and Dallas County is our first flagship area,” Holley said. “With us being a part of the community, this is one of the things that we are trying to do, and we will continue to do.” Holley said with mStreet Fiber Alabama, LLC, she is the digital equity manager, who would tell anyone interested in the Selma AmeriCorps Program that it is truly a service opportunity. “If you are looking for something to do or don’t know how to get involved into the community and want to volunteer and just do not know where to start,” Holley said. “AmeriCorps is a good opportunity for you to start. Then that way, you can get yourself acclimated with the area that you are in and be a servant for your people.” About 28 members from the Selma AmeriCorps team helped with the beautification project for the city of Selma. The City of Selma’s Planning and Development Community Engagement Coordinator Tasha Dangerfield said the efforts of the beautification projects should not just rely on the members alone. “We would love to have more community participation too,” Dangerfield said. “What I notice is that we always have a bunch of people saying what Selma needs and what can be done and like what we should do but just like today, the weather is decent. Yesterday, the weather was decent too and we had 28 members out here working hard to beautify Selma. So, I feel like the community too, should have enough pride and say, “you know, let me get out and help, even if it’s just two plants.” Dangerfield said it takes a team to make some differences happen in the city of Selma. AmeriCorps member Jayden Robinson said that the three core values the organization stands upon is to revitalize, recharge and restore. “That’s our theme for this week,” Dangerfield said. “What I have noticed with the members is that they work well in teams. So, teamwork is another component. They also can do critical thinking to figure out the task and what do we need to do to make sure we execute the job and get it finished. Overall, they have worked well together.” Dangerfield also said another skillset that was developed by the team was conflict resolution. “It’s like when one team member has an idea about something and another team member feels like their idea can work too, but at the end of the day, they finally come to one idea and a mutual agreement,” Dangerfield said. “So, that’s been good.” Dangerfield also said when the members can come together and critically work things out, she feels it gives them a sense of pride too. “When they get done and they ride down the street, they will be able to see and say, “That this is my work. This is my hand and that I took my personal time, got in and put my hands in the soil of Selma to make it look better,” Dangerfield said. “So, in a sense, too, it’s planting seeds of love while putting a little bit of themselves into this space. So with these projects that’s the same thing that I do. It’s planting seeds of hope, showing that this city is worthy and deserving of a better name. It stood for so much. But even with the civil rights and all of that, there’s so much more to Selma. It’s arts, its people, great culinary skills, history, all kinds of amazing people that come from this space and people that come into this space. I’m one of the implants and I’ve come here and it’s like I found my way. So, it’s a wonderful place and a unique gem.” Dangerfield and AmeriCorps member Jayden Robinson agreed that the city overall just needs a little tender loving care. To wrap up the Selma AmeriCorps week, members of the city, Mayor Johnny Moss, III and the members of the Selma AmeriCorps team attended a wellness and recharge day at the George P. Evans Reception Center and Safety Building on Thursday, March 12. The wellness day included several grounding and mindfulness sessions with Cheryl Pettaway Colvin to commemorate their Thursday theme catered to tension release. The day ended with recognition and acknowledgement of the Selma AmeriCorps members and their efforts contributed to the beautification of the city of Selma. The event also reminded every individual of the Selma AmeriCorps team that they can do all things in the world if they put their mind to it. For more information about the Selma AmeriCorps Program, contact Jasmine Robinson at 334-327-7074.

On Feb.13, the Dallas County Health Department named its community room after Vera Jenkins Booker. Booker was a trailblazing nurse in the Selma community who broke racial barriers, being one of the first African American nurses hired by the Dallas County Health Department. | Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information By Faith Callens Special to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information Just a day before valentine’s day, the Dallas County Health Department named its community room after Vera Jenkins Booker. Booker was a trailblazing nurse in the Selma community who broke racial barriers, being one of the first African American nurses hired by the Dallas County Health Department. Prior to Booker joining the Dallas County Health Department , she was employed at Good Samaritan Hospital that was located on the corner of Washington Street and Voeglin Avenue in Selma. In 1965, Booker was the nurse supervisor on the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift when civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson was brought to the hospital after being shot during a voting rights protest in Marion, Alabama. Booker helped care for Jackson before he succumbed to his gunshot wounds eight days later, according to the Vera Jenkins Booker Community Room dedication program. The program said that Booker dedicated her entire career to improving the health and well-being of all residents in Dallas County, especially during times when access to healthcare for African Americans were severely limited. On Feb. 13, The Dallas County Health Department County Administrator Sarina Stewart joined Senator Robert Stewart alongside Dr. Constance Smith Hendricks and many others in welcoming the public to the dedication and renaming ceremony of the Dallas County Health Department's community room in honor of Vera Jenkins Booker.

On Thursday, Arabella's Business Development Director Sarah Averette (left), spoke to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information about Arabella Health and Wellness of Selma and the services it provides to the Selma community. During the talk, Averette was joined by the facility’s administrator, Carolyn Davison (right), and Director of Nursing, Latechia Bell ( middle) . | The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information By Faith Callens Special to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information On Thursday, The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information spent the morning learning about the Arabella Health and Wellness of Selma nursing home and the services it provides to the Selma community. Arabella’s Business Development Director Sarah Averette spoke to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and several community partners about the different sectors of the nursing home, starting with their inpatient rehab unit. “So, we basically use this [unit] for our short-term patients who come out and need services after having any type of orthopedic surgeries and we also offer rehab for stoke patients as well,” Averette said. “We also work with cardiac patients, and we offer dialysis transportation if there is a patient that needs short term or long-term rehab, they live out in the community and need transportation.” Averette said the nursing facility also has a van to help take patients back and forth to dialysis appointments and regular doctor visits as well. “Because, of course, [patients] are going to have follow up appointments after they have a surgery and when they do, they will come back to Arabella and stay with us,” Averette said. “Usually, we try to get everybody in their own private room back here [in this unit] because it’s kind of like a hotel stay when they come.” Averette also spoke about the facility’s new and upcoming upgrades to the Chamber, saying that the facility plans to continue renovations, and she said it does not stop at the inpatient rehab unit. “We are working on getting the whole building renovated,” Averette said. “Whenever Arabella took over, that was their main focus to renovate this facility because a long time ago, this whole back unit used to be rehab facility full of patients when it was Warren Manor.” The facility also offers respite stays for family members taking care of hospice patients, according to Averette to provide them with a moment of peace. “Sometimes people just a need a break from home,” Averette said. “Sometimes they just have to get their minds clear or maybe take a mini break and we offer that respite stay for those caregivers as well. This is mainly focused on short-term stays because our goal is for short-term patients to be able to return back to the community and share their perspective on Arabella and our thorough care. As you know, we offer 24/7 care and we have a rehab unit located on the west wing so it’s good access.” The last pillar of Averette’s talk with the Chamber consisted of her speaking about the activity department that they have for its residents. “We have about four ladies who work in the activities department,” Averette said. “The activities’ department help the long-term and short-term patients stay active while they continuously get their care from our rehab department.” As Averette continued talking, the facility’s administrator Carolyn Davison walked into the facility’s dining room alongside the Director of Nursing Latechia Bell to greet the members of the Chamber and its community partners, welcoming them to Arabella. At the end of Averette’s talk, she opened the dialogue up for questions and allowed everyone who attended the meeting to tour the facility, showcasing Arabella’s new and improved inpatient rehab rooms. Averette said if there is anyone interested in a tour of the Arabella Health and Wellness nursing home that they are always open to do a tour. Residents interested can call 334-874-7425 for more information.