Kate Carver is an Alabama Bright Light for Mobile’s homeless
Dumas Wesley Community Center has a dozen programs to improve the lives of homeless people and the working poor in Mobile. (contributed)
When Kate Carver was asked to lead a charity that has been around for more than a century, she knew the role would be steeped in historical significance, present challenges and allow for future accomplishments.
“Dumas Wesley has been around for 117 years,” said Carver, executive director of the Dumas Wesley Community Center. “We were founded in 1903 by the United Methodist Women when they saw a need for day care services for families working in the cotton mills. Over the years our agency saw a need in the community and we expanded to meet those needs. We are currently offering over a dozen programs that serve the working poor and the homeless in the Mobile area.”
It’s in the nonprofit’s mission: “To educate, empower and enrich our local community through collaborative programs of Christian service that provide for immediate human needs, strengthen family life, develop leadership and encourage personal responsibility.”
Carver takes on this mission in a very personal way.
“I’ve worked with nonprofits since I could drive, my very first job. It’s in my DNA. I feel like it’s a privilege to be of service to others,” she said. “You often see people at the lowest point of their lives. What keeps us going is being able to see them transform into the person they were meant to be.”
Dumas Wesley Community Center is helping people find a better life from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Carver leads her staff to implement a variety of programs to help the homeless and the poor in the Mobile area.
“One of our main programs is our transitional housing program, which serves homeless families for up to 24 months,” she said.
Carver relies on grants from corporate supporters including the Alabama Power Foundation.
“The Alabama Power Foundation has been a partner with us for many years. As far back as I can remember they have been involved with us and many other community partners,” Carver said.
Most recently the Alabama Power Foundation partnered with Dumas Wesley to offer a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics) program.
“This is the first STEAM program that we are offering to this population,” Carver said. “Most of our kids are living at or below the poverty level and don’t have access to these kinds of programs. We are so excited Alabama Power Foundation has given us this grant. Also, the Alabama Power Service Organization has helped us with many projects. For us in the nonprofit world, we work on a shoestring budget and it means a lot to us. We could not do our work without groups like Alabama Power Foundation and Alabama Power Service Organization.”
Carver and her staff have felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have risen to the challenge.
“COVID-19 has affected things. We are not doing some of our programs in person, especially for our older folks, but things like that only bring us closer together and make us stronger,” she said. “We have taken precautions and care about our folks and about their health.”
The social justice movement across the country is also affecting the work of Carver and the center.
“We regularly host community action meetings where we invite the public, community leaders and policymakers to our campus to discuss social justice issues, education, crime and the like,” she said. “Our goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the issues in our community, give a voice to those concerns and collectively address those issues together.”
For Carver, it’s all about outcomes.
“When I see the results of our work, it keeps me motivated to keep doing what I’m doing,” she said. “I feel so lucky to be on this journey with someone who’s at a low point in their life, and to see them rise and become the person they want to be. It is so inspiring.”
For more information, visit www.dumaswesley.org.
Alabama Bright Lights captures the stories, through words, pictures and video, of some of our state’s brightest lights who are working to make Alabama an even better place to live, work and play. Award-winning journalist Karim Shamsi-Basha tells their inspiring stories. Email him comments, as well as suggestions on people to profile, at karimshamsibasha@gmail.com.
