Birmingham Urban League Steps Up to Fill Gap in JCCEO Programs

Birmingham Urban League (Birmingham, AL), a community based organization, is stepping up to fill a void once handled by the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity (JCCEO).

JCCEO had to relinquish all grants and stop all programs due to financial struggles. Now the Birmingham Urban League is seeing more clients come in for utility assistance.

Since JCCEO is no longer able to offer it’s programs, some residents say they were worried they wouldn’t have anywhere to turn to.

“I put it like this, there’s a lot of folks drowning, a lot of people need help, not only just me, a lot of people need something, they ain’t got nowhere to go," said Birmingham resident Glenn Hampton.

Birmingham Urban League is seeing a 30% increase in clients coming through their door just this week.

“We are having conversations about how we can best stand up and fill in the hole," said Birmingham Urban League President/CEO William Barnes.

Barnes said they may have to hire more staff to meet the new demand.

Barnes said the need for help in paying rent and utilities shows no signs of slowing. The organization just signed 15-million dollar emergency rental assistance program grant with Jefferson County. The ERAP targets those who were impacted by the pandemic.

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