By Ryan Michaels
The Birmingham Times
Birmingham City Council on Tuesday voted to put $450,000 more into a program which offers funding for home roof repairs in the Northside community.
Homeowners in the Druid Hills, Evergreen, Fountain Heights, Norwood and Central City neighborhoods can receive up to $10,000 for new roofs, which are certified to an industry standard for resisting wind damage, under the “Protecting Good: Strengthen, Repair and Protect” (SRP) program.
Tuesday’s funding was made up of discretionary money from three different city councilor’s district funds: Councilor LaTonya Tate, District 9 – $200,000; Councilor J.T. Moore, District 4 – $150,000 and Council President Pro Tem Crystal Smitherman, District 6 – $100,000.
Tate, who grew up in Norwood, said she feels the need to “pour into a community that was poured into me by my parents and my grandparents.”
“Just being able to see a rebirth in the community and see the smiles on faces–it warms my heart for me to make the investment, so it wasn’t something I had to think about. It was just something that I knew I needed to do,” she said.
The new roofs, along with other restoration work in neighborhoods like Norwood, will enable residents to continue to pass down homes to “their kids and their kids’ kids,” she said.
The Protecting Good initiative was launched by Protective Life Corporation (Protective) in 2021, in collaboration with the City of Birmingham, the State Department of Insurance and Habitat for Humanity to work with Northside Birmingham residents since building the 45,000-seat, multi-purpose Protective Stadium in the heart of their community.
The funding specifically targets residents in districts 4 and 9 and provides money for 50 to 60 residents making at or below 80 percent of area median income for roof replacements.
Smitherman’s money for the project was not included in the initial ordinance for funding, but she added it while the council was considering the item.
Smitherman said the roof project affects more than two districts.
“… people need good quality of life, so if we’re able to make an impact on all four quadrants of the city, then we can improve the overall quality of life for everyone,” she said.
