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Birmingham disability center hopes to reduce violence with employment opportunities: ‘They motivate you’

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This is another installment in Birmingham Times/AL.com/CBS42 joint series “Beyond the Violence: what can be done to address Birmingham’s rising homicide rate.” Sign up for the newsletter here.

In 1994, when Lorenzo Brown was 17 years old, he was shot in the neck, leaving him quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down.

Now, Brown is the executive director of Is Able Ministries, where he helps others learn how to navigate life with disabilities.

“It was a very painful journey for me as a quadriplegic, navigating things. The Lord really touched my life and opened up some amazing doors that brought me out of what I was going through,” Brown said.

Is Able Ministries has been helping people with disabilities for 26 years. The Is Able Center helps people across Birmingham with setting goals, self advocacy, conflict resolution, financial literacy, resume building and college and career readiness.

Experts say that expanding public health services targeting the underlying causes of violence, poverty, poor education and poor mental health can prevent violence in underserved communities. Brown said he hopes Is Able will help people with disabilities realize that they do not have to navigate life on their own, find meaningful work and break cycles.

“My mother was a drug addict and an alcoholic. My dad wasn’t in my life. Of course I made a lot of bad decisions. I got shot. I sold drugs. I did all of those things. But when I got exposed to different opportunities and took advantage of those opportunities, it just shifted the whole course of my life. I wanted the youth that I work with to know that they don’t have to use their circumstances as an excuse, but as a reason to succeed.”

In 1998, Is Able Ministries opened its doors to help other people with disabilities thrive. Brown went into communities to share what healthcare services and rehabilitation programs were available to people with disabilities.

Brown founded the Is Able Center in 2017 to take his community outreach even further, helping community members with rent, transportation, social engagement, development and life skills classes, accessible computer training, job training and employment.

In Alabama, about 1.3 million adults have a disability, according to federal estimates. Many people with disabilities can and do want to work, but it can be hard to match up people with the right jobs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 25% of the adult U.S. population has a disability; out of the working-age population, only 7.6 million people with disabilities are employed, for an average employment rate of 22.5%.

Last year, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 7.2%, about twice that of those with no disability, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many people with disabilities want to work full-time, but are stuck in part-time jobs, according to federal data.

After Brown was shot, his family was unable to take care of him, so he was placed in a Tuskegee nursing home at 18 years old, where, he said, he experienced neglect and abuse.

In 1996, with help from the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, Brown was able to move out of the nursing home into a transitional living facility in Birmingham.

The transitional living facility taught Brown how to live independently and helped him to go back to school, live in his first apartment and get his first power wheelchair and van.

“All of these things just really set the foundation for my life to be successful. In doing all of that, these things helped to rebuild my life. It really developed this passion inside of me for others that were disabled, but also for youth that are struggling as well, who are losing their lives, being shot and left paralyzed from gun violence, like me. That’s how Is Able came about,” Brown said.

On each wall of the Is Able Center are posters with motivational messages about perseverance and determination.

Every Monday, Brown hosts a free social engagement and development class.

“For myself, early on I was so self conscious about myself, I had no confidence. And so I just mute, you know, I couldn’t find my voice. And so we put that class together to help people find their voice,” Brown said. “People with disabilities having the opportunity to socialize will help them have a more productive life.

Every Thursday, Brown said the center is packed with people who want to participate in the free computer classes.

Accessible computers that can be controlled by the sound of a person’s voice or eye movement, with keyboards made for people with low vision and mouses made for people who can’t move their fingers are available for those in need.

“The way I thought of this was in college, I didn’t have access to a computer, so I would go to the local library. But when I got there, nothing was designed for me,” Brown said. “So I wanted to create a computer lab designed to meet the needs of people with various types of disabilities.”

Phulontae Tarver has been an Is Able client for eight months. She sought out the program after she lost her job and her car broke down.

Tarver said she has anxiety and has had a hard time finding a job because of it.

“Is Able has some of the best people I’ve ever met. They make sure to go through every angle to help you look for a job. They motivate you,” Tarver said. “They helped change me, they really helped. When I first came in, I thought there was no hope. Their first goal was to motivate me.”

To help Tarver focus on finding work, Is Able paid her rent, paid for transportation services and taught Tarver how to ride the bus so she could travel to and from work.

After a few months of support, Tarver secured a temporary office job.

Once Tarver finished her contract, Is Able helped her find another clerical position working from home. They even helped her get a computer so she could do her work.

“They motivate you, that’s what I like about them. No matter what’s going on with me, they always look forward to finding me employment,” Tarver said. “It’s kind of relaxing, knowing that there’s someone on your side. They find the best in you to make sure that you can stand on your own. They don’t just try. They bend over backwards”

Is Able also partners with the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services to provide employment services to people with disabilities.

“They refer individuals with various types of disabilities over to our organization and we help them find competitive employment within the community. We also go into the local schools around the city of Birmingham and we provide pre-employment transition services to students ninth-12th grade. That includes self advocacy, workplace readiness, permit training, financial literacy, really just getting them prepared to transition out of high school and into the workplace,” Brown said.

Michelle Davis-Avery, a special education teacher for 11th graders at A.H. Parker High School, said her students are always engaged and excited to learn when Brown comes to visit.

“He bends over backwards for my children. I love my children, so having someone loving them as much as he does has been an awesome gift to us here at Parker,” Avery said.

In March, Brown conducted mock interviews with each of Avery’s students. With the information he learned about the students’ skills, extracurriculars, volunteer and work experience, Brown created resumes for each student to give to future employers.

“It’s been just a beautiful light for me, having him to support what I do by helping my children. If a student needs clothing or whatever, Is Able will meet the child at a store and he will support that child and buy their school clothes. That means a lot. He will do whatever he can to help that child,” Avery said.

Brown also helps Avery coordinate college visits and career readiness workshops for her students.

In the summer, Is Able will provide job opportunities to students to give them job experience in a safe environment.

In 2023, the City of Birmingham provided Is Able with $75,000 from the BOLD Fund, an initiative created to help improve Birmingham’s economy by providing funding to organizations working to solve community issues.

This year, the grant was increased to $87,050 to create savings account for 60 Birmingham City School students from A.H. Parker High School, George Washington Carver High School, Woodlawn High School and Jackson Olin High School.

The 60 students who complete Is Able’s financial literacy class will be awarded $350 to start a checkings account and another $350 to start a savings account.

The grant is also used to help community members pay for clothing, meals, utility bills and rent.

“Getting people good jobs helps to prevent violence. It gets them out of poverty,” Brown said. “Just simply putting a pair of shoes on a child’s feet, or clothes on their back, or food in their refrigerator or money toward their mama’s rent can prevent crime or prevent them from dropping out of school. The more educated they become, the more likely they are to break these cycles of poverty and violence.”

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