One on One

We brought together Keith Thompson, the pastor of First United Methodist Church in downtown Birmingham, and Jamie Whitehurst, the special events and development coordinator at Birmingham AIDS Outreach, for a conversation in the studio of photographer Beau Gustafson.

Keith: Tell me about how you got into what you’re doing and how that came about?

Jamie: Sure, at Birmingham Aids Outreach, when I first moved here, I volunteered with them a lot. I had an interested in helping with the events and fundraisers. At the time I was in the corporate world and eventually the position I have now opened and it seemed like a great opportunity, and my heart was there. It was such a good organization to work for and that’s how I got to Birmingham Aids Outreach.

Keith: what’s the support been like for you in the Birmingham area?

Jamie: It’s been amazing even through this slow economic time. Birmingham Aids Outreach is about to turn 25 years old, this May and we’re kind of a grass roots organization, started by the community in 1985, when there was a need to care for people who were very sick. As that need grew very quickly, the organization was incorporated and since then the community support has been just continuous, and even tough economic times like right now. If it were not for the community, their volunteer hours, or their interest we certainly wouldn’t be here today.

Keith: I have to be careful. My tendency is to ask a lot of questions and I’m very curious about people. You’ve lived in North Carolina, Florida and now in Birmingham. How has it been different in Birmingham, or what do you find here as far as acceptance of the issues, struggle with the issues, and such.

Jamie: Birmingham is a great town, and I can tell you I have lots of friends and family that have visited from North Carolina and Florida and other places and they are all pleasantly surprised when they get here and I’ve even had a couple of friends who have moved here after come to visit me. But, as far as nonprofits and organizations, It is a very accepting town, then I think people would imagine. And, it’s a very philanthropic town, not only with Birmingham Aids Outreach, but with the arts and theatre and other nonprofits. If you pick up the magazine, or newspaper, almost every big event you see is some type of fundraiser. And, it’s a good thing, I’m very proud to say that about Birmingham

Keith: Birmingham is a very generous community, which I’ve always been very proud of. Prior to being at First Methodist church I was helping with fundraising at Birmingham Southern. I got to know an awful lot of people throughout the Birmingham area, who are really just amazingly generous. They just don’t give to one cause. They give to many causes. And, you and I were talking before about some of the arts in the Birmingham area, and the support that comes from the community to support the arts around here has always been impressive and exciting to me to see. It just gives me hope that it continues to grow and we’ll see new creativity that we continue to see in our community.

Jamie: Absolutely. And, not only does the community support the local arts, from my point of view at Birmingham Aids Outreach, but the local artists are so incredibly supportive of us. And, often times when we have big events and fundraisers, they willingly come and donate their art to us so we can sell it. And I see many other organizations that the artists also support. So, they’re doing so much for the community.

Keith: One of the interesting things in June, when I came to First Methodist Church, in downtown Birmingham. It was important to me that it was downtown, that it was a downtown church and the history that was there, but also the eclectic sense of the community of downtown. You get a lot more variety of people downtown than if you were off in the suburbs, or a lot of other places and when I arrived there I didn’t realize that some of the strengths of the aspects of that. Our youth group has 26 different schools it pulls from, which is such a difference experience for most kids. Most of them are used to just being around the same people over and over again, doing that. And, I think that’s one of the strengths of downtown. It offers more opportunity for people to be around other people who think differently. I think that’s when we make our best decisions and when we have our best wisdom about us, is when we’re around people who see things from different perspectives.

We where talking earlier about people coming into town, and not knowing exactly what Birmingham was going to be like, when they arrive. And, often, and I would say without exception, pleasantly surprised at what they find in Birmingham. It’s a place of great pride. Most of my family or a lot of my family comes from up North, and when they come down here, always enjoy it. They get spoiled greatly by the weather down here, compared to Minnesota where they are, and can’t understand why we’re not playing golf in December down here. But, there’s so much that it offers throughout here.

Jamie: And, not to mention our southern hospitality, and we have some amazing restaurants.

Keith: We do. As a matter of fact, I was talking to Chris DuPont the other day, who really does a wonderful job in his restaurants and other friends who own restaurants, Veranda and others. I was talking to him and the appreciation for fine foods here and the chance to go linger over a meal and it’s really a relational experience as much as a food experience for folks. I love it. I rate all of my vacations by what type of food I get to enjoy.

Jamie: Same here.

The Most Challenging Parts of Your Job

Jamie: I can honestly say that I love my job. I’m having a ball with it. My heart is there, as well as all of our staff. But, over all, I think the challenging part is just the physical stamina that it takes honestly. Most weeks we’re working seven days a week. Often nights. Again, I love it. I’m surrounded by great people in the office and at the special events. But, there are times when it gets a little bit exhausting. Other than that, it’s a great place to be. I have met so many fantastic and amazing people in the community at our special events. I imagine your job is often seven days a week.

Keith: Sure, on call 24/7. I would say finding a way to pace yourself and be able to lead a full healthy life is always part of the challenge in any type of service industry that we’re in, where we’re really dealing with other people and their needs. The things that are unending aspects of a job. There’s no finish line you’re going to cross in that. That’s certainly a challenge for us. I think part of the challenge where we are is developing a new vision of what they can be. This was a very successful kind of mother church that launched many other churches that have gone on and grown and the tendency of churches like that is to live in the past, and celebrate their glory days and be excited about those things. But, to really develop a vision of what they can be and to move forward toward that.

I love the diversity in downtown Birmingham and to develop that diversity within a congregation to really paint a vision that we have homeless people, we have bank presidents, and lawyers, and school teachers and retired people and people in their twenties altogether in their worship in one church, and to me that’s what the church is supposed to be, that’s what it’s supposed to be like. But, really developing that to where it’s not just a token or an occasional thing within the church, but that’s really the fabric of who the church is. To me that ‘s an ongoing challenge for us, and always will be. We adopted a vision statement that we’re an open place for all to worship, grow and serve. Well that’s who we are and strive to be all at the same time. And, so that challenge will always be out there in front of us. How do we go out and meet, and greet and seek people out in the world and not just sit back and say we’re open and we hope you show up.

Jamie: And, I think that’s also, it’s very challenging, it’s also very rewarding. We look at similar things like that with Birmingham Aids Outreach. We want to do so much for the individuals that we already serve, and at the same time, we’re always looking at how we can educate more people out in the community and reach more people in the outskirts of Birmingham and Jefferson County, and get more people in our office to get tested. So it is very challenging, but at the same time rewarding. If you can have one great conversation with someone and educate them about HIV and STDs, that can be the best part of your day. And, you can affect countless lives by communicating with one person.

Keith: Well, just being able to get out there and share information with people in and of itself and know that it’s important and vital. I know it has to be very rewarding and I would imagine the difference you’ve been able to make has to be something that sustains you through those seven days a week kind of stuff.

Jamie: Right. And, many other ways. When I talk to the individuals, our clients, in the lobby, and see them, a lot of them have really come from hard lives. And, even though at times struggle really hard, it’s amazing how beautiful their smiles can be, and how giving they are as individuals. Some of our clients will do anything we ask of them and walking in the lobby each day and seeing them, itself is very rewarding.

Keith: Back in the eighties when I was in seminary, I worked as a chaplain in a hospital in Georgia, over in Atlanta. And AIDS was certainly still a lot of unknowns at that point. A lot of superstitions I would say, even they were part of that. Misinformation that was out there. Do you still bump into a lot of that?

Jamie: There is definitely a lot of that still out there. Misinformation, a lot of fear, to be honest. And, I think it’s more so in the rural communities than in the city of Birmingham or in larger cities. And, with certain populations, too. There are certain populations that we are still trying very hard to reach today. For example the Latino population. We’re trying to get them more involved and encourage them to come into our office and get tested. But, within certain cultures, there are still a lot of fear and some taboo.

Keith: That’s a good word for it. That’s what I kept bumping into and while there’s been a lot of information and a lot of myths dispelled during that time, I was curious if it was still such an issue. I know a friend who was over in Africa with the Peace Corp. And, the taboos and the myths and the mistrust of the government and any information that came out, the AIDS epidemic there was just heart breaking.

Jamie: It is. You hear the stories and see the photos over there. It truly is heartbreaking, and much the same way over here. So many people that we serve, maybe were not educated and didn’t take the precautions that they could have. And, that’s what we’re doing now. Getting more people educated.

Keith: What about church involvement? Are you seeing churches getting involved in that issue? Is that something that’s happening? Is it prayer?

Jamie: We do. I’m glad you asked. Surprisingly, we have so many churches in our area that support Birmingham Aid Outreach. Some of the churches support us financially. And, then there are some other churches, especially in the African American community that actually invite us to come to their church when they have special days, like health care days, they’ll invite us to set up a booth and make presentations and talk to folks about education and prevention. And, sometimes we can even do testing on site. And, with the HIV test that we have today, it’s as easy as sticking a Q tip in your mouth and you get results in twenty minutes. We don’t have to draw blood and wait a couple of weeks. So, luckily we are able to give those tests on site, even in churches.

Keith: Wow, that’s pretty neat.