Welcome to Main Street Alabama
Main Street Alabama leaves communities better than they are found by building on history, culture and unique attributes to cultivate sustainable change.
Growing up, Mary Helmerβs mother had a mantra: βLeave it better than you found it.β Mary works hard to do exactly that in her role as President and State Coordinator at Main Street Alabama. βMain Street Alabama is an organization that works with cities and neighborhood commercial districts to revitalize their downtown and neighborhood areas,β Mary says.
A nonprofit organization, Main Street Alabama builds on the history, culture and unique attributes of neighborhoods and cities to cultivate sustainable change. This is done through public-private partnerships and community engagement, as well as strategies that create jobs, spark new investment, attract visitors and spur growth. βIβve been doing this 20+ years,β says Mary, who did similar work in her home state of Kansas before coming to Birmingham seven years ago. βItβs a great opportunity to help a community with the changes in their district over time. Itβs very satisfying. Itβs a great job.β
Main Street Alabama, which began in 2009 and was incorporated in 2010, follows a 30-year-old model for community revitalization that has seen great success nationwide. The organization works with communities across the state, helping the districts in four main areas β organization, promotion, design, and economic vitality. These four focal points of the Main Street approach correspond with the four forces of real estate value: social, political, physical, and economic.
When Main Street Alabama sets out to help a community, the recommendations are backed by research that includes roundtable discussions, community meetings and visits with local businesses. βWe help [communities] set up goals and give them tools they need to move forward,β Mary says. In Birmingham, for example, Main Street Alabama works with the Historic Fourth Avenue Business District to spur its revitalization. The organization conducts a market analysis to help businesses in the area thrive. Main Street Alabama also works closely with REV Birmingham and Urban Impact to serve Magic City businesses.
RELATED:Β Reviving Fourth Avenue: Past, Present & Future
Coping with COVID
This year, much of Main Street Alabamaβs work has focused on helping Alabamaβs small businesses weather the economic impact of COVID-19. βTheyβre struggling in this,β Mary says. Main Street Alabama offers on-demand webinars to teach businesses how to sell online and maximize social media.
βWhereas in some cases Instagram may be perfect for a business, Twitter may be better for another business,β Mary explains. At reopenmainstreet.com, businesses can get tips on how to make customers comfortable enough to visit their storefronts as they reopen their doors. Mary and her team recently helped 25 businesses in Jasper reset their storefronts and pivot their business models to adapt to the pandemic and be successful now and in the future. Main Street Alabama hopes to bring similar efforts to other areas across the state.
Making a Difference
Trisha Black works as a field services specialist for Main Street Alabama. She helps Main Street communities better understand the Main Street four-point approach and helps train board members, committees and volunteers. She also assists districts with their strategic plans, marketing and more.
Trisha grew up in small Alabama towns, so for her, this work is personal. βIn the four years that Iβve worked with Main Street Alabama, I have visited nearly 60 communities, several that remind me of the Alabama towns that Iβve lived in,β she says. βThe people are good people and love their communities, many having lived there all their lives or returning to raise their families.β
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Trisha says that one thing her job has taught her is that we all have the power to make a difference in our communities. βWhen I see momentum, itβs when those individuals decide to roll up their sleeves and get involved in making their community better,β she says. βFrom decorating the district for the holidays to renovating historic downtown buildings to drawing new businesses to the district, itβs that private investment that makes the difference and further builds community pride in the place they call home.β
Mary wants you to do your part, too. One of the best ways you can help, she says, is to shop at local businesses. You can also buy a license plate for your car to let everyone know that you do. The Shop Local Support Small Business tag will be produced if at least 1,000 people complete an online application and pay a $50 fee by July 31, 2021. Proceeds from the sales fund small business workshops and grants.
Main Street Alabama also offers a variety of volunteer opportunities. βI think if we all looked at things with the goal of leaving things better than we found them,β Mary says, βyou can make a big difference across your neighborhood, across your district and across your state.β
Learn more about Main Street Alabama at MainStreetAlabama.org. All images courtesy of Main Street Alabama.
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Javacia Harris Bowser
Javacia Harris Bowser is a Birmingham-based freelance writer and the founder of See Jane Write, an online community and coaching service for women who write. With over 20 years of journalism experience, Javacia has received awards from the National Federation of Press Women, Alabama Media Professionals, Alabama Press Association, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. When sheβs not writing, sheβs usually practicing Pilates, getting her 10K steps a day, or watching crime shows. Follow Javacia on Instagram @seejavaciawrite.