Lovelady Center
The Lovelady Center is a 9- to 12-month faith-based residential treatment and recovery center for women and children located at 7916 2nd Avenue South in the former East End Memorial Hospital in East Lake.
The center was founded by Brenda Spahn in 1997 as Freedom Rain Ministries, operating out of her home and ministering to women leaving the Julia Tutwiler Prison in Wetumpka. She later renamed the center for her father, James Lovelady. Currently the center houses about 280 women and 70 of their children.
During the first five weeks of the program, adult participants complete five intensive courses in the theology of the Cross, forming healthy relationships, mind renewal, job readiness and money management, and Biblical sexuality. Over the next ten months, women continue classes in practical education and artistic expression and work with counselors to find job placement and housing. Children of residents also receive teaching and enrichment. When the center moved to the old hospital, Spahn originally did not allow children, but eventually turned an area into a "kid zone" for the parents and children. The 5,000-square-foot former emergency room area has been licensed as a day care center.
In 2009, Lovelady Center and Freedom Rain, the financial arm of the center, parted ways due to disagreements over electronic bingo. The Lovelady Thrift Store was opened in a former Circuit City in Eastwood to benefit the center in 2010.
References
- Park, Dave (February 10, 2008) "Drugs divide mothers from children, but Lovelady Center restores relationships." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (January 7, 2010) "Lovelady Center charity, ministry transforming vacant Circuit City store in Eastwood into thrift store." Birmingham News
External link
- Lovelady Center website