Luncheon discusses All in Mountain Brook

The Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce hosted many speakers from All in Mountain Brook during their quarterly luncheon on March 16 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens who discussed the significance of the organization.

Founded in the early 1990s under the name "Drug and Alcohol Task Force," Superintendent Dicky Barlow said the group was designed to help Mountain Brook students and families deal with the many challenges they may face. As years went by, Barlow, along with additional community members, agreed the program needed to be "revamped."

When All in Mountain Brook became what it is today, the premise remained the same, but now involves the local government, and the school, business and worship community. He also said some of the focuses shifted.

"The world has changed, and really the issues that involve our students have changed," he said. Don Menendez, AIMB president elect, said the program now also gives students and parents the resources to work through problems with social media, mental health and technology, among other topics. This is done through forums and panels, which are put on in part with the help of the schools and the city government.

This year, AIMB has held many forums for both parents and students, which Menendez called "tremendously successful." Discussions were for parents of students of all ages as well as for students at the high school, with topics ranging from sleep deprivation to how to navigate junior high. Police chief Ted Cook also led a panel for families who were planning a spring break along the Gulf to update them on recent changes to laws. 

According to Cook, the police department has a role in AIMB because it works to promote the health, safety and wellness of the Mountain Brook community members, including students. "We're trying to be as active and involved as we can, that's part of the presentations that Don mentioned," Cook said. 

Rabbi Jonathan Miller, a founding member of AIMB, and Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, also said that AIMB works to provide a sense of peace to its community members. "The word 'shalom' doesn't mean peace in the way of 'OK, we're not going to battle, we're not going to fight wars,'" he said. Instead, the word is rooted in the word shaleim, which he said means wholeness or oneness. "You get the peace that comes from a feeling of a wellness in its largest term. And All in Mountain Brook is really that shalom agent I think for so many families and can be a motivator for our religious communities."

Rabbi Miller continued, saying one of the reasons he became involved in AIMB is to help promote the feeling of wellness within the community.

"Being of a community of privilege where everybody shines, or where everybody is expected to shine makes it very difficult spiritually, for the ordinary kids, for the good kids, for all of our kids," he said. "I think that a lot of the problems we have is this problem of ... high expectations for excellence that sometimes can make people ... it can hurt their spirit, and make them feel like they are failures."

While he acknowledged the problems, Rabbi Miller said the community is not powerless to them, and by working together, would be able to move forward towards that sense of wellness and peace.

"We are grateful to be able to live, as Rabbi Miller said, in a privileged community," Menendez said in closing. "And with great privilege also comes great responsibility."

The next chamber luncheon will be returning to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on May 17 with guest speaker Christopher Tanner, and Mountain Brook and West Point graduate who served under Gen. David Petraeus.