Jimmie Hale Mission celebrates 75 years

This March, Jimmie Hale Mission celebrated 75 years of helping members of the local community, with Executive Director Rev. Tony Cooper leading for about 30 of those years. Cooper spoke at the monthly Homewood Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on March 19 about the history of the nonprofit and the impact it has had on both men and women.

Cooper showed two videos to share more about Jimmie Hale Mission, the first of which talked about its roots.

Jimmie Hale Mission is named for Jimmie Hale, who, Cooper said in the video, was known as the town drunk prior to becoming an active Christian. Hale went on to marry Moundville teacher Jessie Davis, and together they founded the mission in 1944.

Although Hale died at 39 years old, his wife, at 27, took it upon herself to continue the program she and her husband had started. Leo Shepura later stepped in helped Jessie Hale for 36 years, and in 1954, Jimmie Hale Mission served its first meal on Thanksgiving in 1954. In 1990, Cooper came on as executive director.

Jimmie Hale Mission works to meet the spiritual and physical needs of people and to provide and helping hand to “get back to God, back to life and back to work,” Cooper said.

Cooper thanked the public for its continued support and walked through the different programs Jimmie Hale Mission has been able to create.

The mission is comprised of a collection of programs, including the Shepura Men’s Center; Jessie’s Place for women and children; Royal Pines Center, an in-resident recover center for men; Stewart Learning Center, where men and women can learn skills to enter or re-enter the workforce; Discovery Clubs, or after-school bible clubs; and Mission Impossible Bargain Centers, now known as the King’s Home Thrift Better Stores, according to the website.

Cooper told a couple anecdotes about some of the individuals and experiences he has encountered while working at Jimmie Hale Mission. The first was about a man who went through the 16-week residential program at the Royal Pines Center.

At his program graduation ceremony, Cooper said the man’s father was overwhelmed with emotion and was unable to speak. But when he did, Cooper said “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”

Cooper said the man’s father said only a little bit, but the main sentence was “I thank god for using Royal Pines to give me my son back.”

He also spoke about a woman who, with three children, was welcomed into Jessie’s Place. While she was there, she went through medical technician training and is now able to support her family.

Another man stepped into Cooper’s office one day and said he wanted to read Cooper the Bible. Cooper said he thought, in his head, “I don’t need someone to read the Bible to me,” but let the man proceed. It wasn’t until the end that Cooper realized the significance of the encounter — the man told Cooper that he hadn’t been able to read when he first came to Jimmie Hale Mission.

Cooper said most imagine people who are “down and out” visiting the mission, but they see people who are “up and out,” too. Doctors, law school graduates, West Point graduates and businessmen have come to Jimmie Hale Mission when they were in need, he said.

“It’s literally all walks of life.”

Regardless, those at Jimmie Hale Mission work to get people back on their feet.

For more about Jimmie Hale Mission, to donate or to volunteer, visit jimmiehalemission.com.