Community honors 2 for involvement

As a philanthropic community, many local residents give their time and resources back to neighborhoods in the Birmingham area, or Birmingham itself, through projects and initiatives. 

To honor those who have benefited these communities, as well as their own, the city of Mountain Brook dedicates two awards each year: the Jemison Visionary Award and the Tynes Award. 

This year’s Jemison Visionary Award, given by the Chamber of Commerce to recognize someone who has made a great difference in the Birmingham area, was awarded to Dr. Neal Berte.

A Birmingham resident of 40 years, Berte first moved to the area to serve as the president of Birmingham-Southern College and is now the president emeritus of Birmingham-Southern. Since he came to Birmingham, he’s taken an interest in bringing people together.

“I don’t think you can live in Birmingham, and it’s certainly true in Mountain Brook, too, … and not just feel the contagious opportunity to be involved in the community,” he said. 

As a Ford Foundation Scholar, a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow and one of the youngest Alabama Academy of Honor inductees ever, Berte has spent much time helping make Birmingham a better place for current and future generations. But there are a couple of initiatives he’s most proud of.

The first is his involvement as the founding member of Leadership Birmingham. Aimed at connecting city leaders and community members, the program was started in 1984 and brings together community leaders from diverse backgrounds to help Birmingham leaders understand more about the areas they serve.

Berte still serves on the selection committee, which narrows down about 250 applications to 50 seats in Leadership Birmingham each year. 

He also said he strives to “build racial understanding in the community,” and helped restore the 16th Street Baptist Church in the mid-2000s after noticing it falling into a state of disrepair.

“It was not in good shape, and so I was able to work with a steering committee, and my co-chair was a woman who was a young girl in the church the day the bomb went off,” Berte said. Together, they were able to repair many parts of the church, including the general structure, the roof and the elevator after raising $3.8 million to put toward renovations. 

“I think that’s a wonderful testimonial to where this community has come from,” he said. “I think the history of Birmingham is one that is so important to not only recognize some of the most horrific moments in our city’s history, and certainly the history of our country, but appreciate how far this community has come.” 

He noted, too, that much of what he has done, and what the community has been able to accomplish, would not have been possible without the support of many; but he was still surprised to be given the Jemison Visionary Award. 

“Personally, I was certainly very appreciative, grateful and a little overwhelmed,” he said, explaining he was honored to be joining the list of past recipients. “Anything like this is really a recognition of what you’ve been able to do in the community with the help of so many people.”

Tynes Award winner Sue DeBrecht had similar experiences in working with the community to rebuild the Emmet O’Neal Library to what itis today. 

DeBrecht first entered the doors of EOL as the children’s librarian in 1985 and was later named the director in 1989. She held that position until she retired in early 2017, and during her time, led an $8 million campaign to renovate and rebuild the library. She also transformed EOL to become an institution in the community. 

“I think more importantly … she was there for three decades plus,” said library board member Penny Page. “So, she started and saw children grow up to be parents, who, you know, have their children who come into the library.”

Because DeBrecht began at EOL as a children’s librarian, she saw many of the same families day after day. 

“The library has really impacted generations that I’ve seen since I’ve been there,” she said. “There’s just nothing more rewarding to see lifelong learning and how it progresses … I’ve been so fortunate in that I have had a truly dedicated library board and foundation board.”

To better serve the patrons of the library, DeBrecht helped reform EOL’s staffing and made adjustments to fulfill the needs of everyone. She incorporated small changes, such as allowing food and drink in the library or adding programming, and larger renovations, like rebuilding of the library to create a larger and more comfortable community space to benefit Mountain Brook.

So, Page said the board wanted to recognize her legacy at EOL with the Tynes Award.

“She was there for so long and had such a commitment to the community and to the library,” she said.

But despite her work at EOL, the award still came as a surprise to DeBrecht.

“I was shocked; really, I was shocked,” she said. “I had no idea I would even be considered for it.” 

DeBrecht is joining many others who have been given this award, including Western Supermarkets, Larry Faulkner and Lee Gewin, all of whom have been community partners with the library.

“There are so many people … who have done so much for that library,” DeBrecht said. “I’m really in awe that I’m joining the ranks of those previous Tynes Award winners.”

Berte and DeBrecht will be presented with the awards at the annual Chamber of Commerce luncheon Jan. 23.