Bethel-Ensley Action Task
Bethel-Ensley Action Task (BEAT) is a community empowerment and revitalization program founded in 1991 in the Sandy Bottom community of Ensley near Bethel AME Church at 1517 Avenue D and Jackson-Olin High School.
Bethel pastor Ron Nored joined with Clarence Brown to help reverse the decline of housing in the vicinity of the church. After successfully rebuilding 36 houses with $2 million support from private business and the City of Birmingham, the neighborhood was renamed "Sandy Vista". A residents association was formed to build on the accomplishments of the revitalization program, and the Ensley Community Issues Forum (ECIF) was established as a non-profit to spur economic opportunities for Ensley residents with senior care, tutoring, scholarships, summer camps and job placement.
After Nored and Brown died in 2003 and 2006, the organization struggled to maintain its momentum. Former chairwoman Leola Early-Boswell assumed leadership and helped BEAT regroup as it broke ground on new homes in 2009.
References
- Nored, Ronald Eugene (1999) Reweaving the Fabric: How Congregations and Communities Can Come Together to Build their Neighborhoods. Montgomery: Black Belt Press ISBN 9781881320500
- Ruisi, Anne (March 25, 2009) "Adrift after loss of two leaders, BEAT is back in the affordable homebuilding business in the Ensley area of Birmingham, Alabama." The Birmingham News
- DeButts, Jimmy (June 13, 2010) "Ensley marching to new ‘BEAT’." Birmingham Business Journal
External links
- Bethel-Ensley Action Task website