trauma

Alabama’s 988 crisis lifeline supporters call for more funding amidst growing mental health needs

BY: - July 5, 2023

Working at a call center for the state’s 988 suicide and crisis hotline can be rewarding. Kelsi McDowell, volunteer coordinator at Birmingham’s 988 call center, has been with the center since 2015, when she started as a volunteer. Currently, she helps out where she can and does a bit of everything around the call center. […]

‘It practically destroyed him:’ For families of gun violence victims, trauma can last decades

BY: - April 26, 2023

Ashlynn Sparks was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a Wednesday night in Lipscomb, just outside Birmingham, in 2016. Sparks, 18, was in a car with her boyfriend, when an individual approached them and started shooting, spraying the front windshield with bullets. One bullet hit her hand, and another hit her […]