NEWS & EVENTS
%20(1)%20(1).jpg)
Spring Break 2025
Cultural Field Trips
Housing Authority of Birmingham District
Our youth Smithfield residents have been busy during spring break! Six residents from the Smithfield Court participated in a guided tour, where they learned to identify Alabama's native plant species and gained insight into local wildlife. Also partnering with our sister site, Elyton Village, residents joined an educational tour exploring Birmingham's founding and the vital role Black Americans played in its development.
March 14, 2025
Passport to Success Partnership Fair
HABD/TAP
HABD and The Ascent Project hosted the Passport to Success Fair, connecting residents with 21 CNI partners focusing on mental health, wellness, employment, and youth enrichment.
Giveaways included bus tickets, gift cards, company swag, and more. Fifty-five participants attended and engaged directly with service providers.
3/25/25 Smithfield Neighborhood Meeting-CNI Grant Updates
February 2025
Education Collaboration with BCS
HABD/TAP
Hosted by HABD and The Ascent Project, the meeting brought together BCS representatives, school principals, and stakeholders to align efforts around the educational component of the CNI grant.
Topics discussed included improving school attendance, expanding access to enrichment programs, enhancing communication between schools and families, and scholarship opportunities such as the Naomi Truman Scholarship Fund.
Documentary: I'm Still Here
Housing Authority of the Birmingham District
Between 1947 and 1967, Birmingham, Alabama, witnessed over 50 bombings targeting Black-owned homes in the College Hills Community. This film follows three individuals who, as children, lived through the terror and stayed in the city. Together, they seek to turn Birmingham’s painful history into a symbol of hope, resilience, and civil rights progress.
July 23, 2024
Job Seekers
HABD/TAP
Smithfield Residents are you ready to take the next step in your career? Join TAP at our Job Seekers Event every 2nd and 4th Thursday from 11am-12pm in the Nutrition Room! Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, our interactive workshops will equip you with essential skills for success. Learn how to fill out applications effectively, engage confidently with employers, and ace your interviews. Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity—15 of your neighbors have already benefited from our hands-on training. Let's boost your career prospects together! See you at the next Job Seekers Event!
July 2024
Smithfield Newsletter
The Ascent Project
July 16, 2024
Art Therapy Session
HABD Smithfield
On Tuesday, July 16, 2024, we went on a field trip to the Birmingham Public Library Smithfield Branch to attend an art therapy session with a local Youtuber. The campers had to paint their emotions. She engaged us in discussions of how we cope with our anger and sadness.
June 2024
Smithfield Summer Camp
Community Development Strategies
TAP and HABD co-hosted a Summer Camp for 19 youth residents aged 7-14. The camp lasts for six weeks, from June 17, 2024 to July 26, 2024. This year's theme is international travel. Every week of camp we expose the campers to new facts about the countries, citizens, cultures, habitats, and wildlife that lie within each continent. After completion of each week, campers gain a stamp on their faux passports.
Activities found throughout the week:
Camp Words + Personal Development
FitbyLee (Yoga)
Inside out Health & Wellness
Arts & Craft
STEM
Interactive Learning( math and literacy activities)
Self-esteem and mentorship
Life Skills: Cooking Class series
_JPG.jpg)
April 2024
Marcia L. Fudge Retirement
Housing Authority of the Birmingham District
In July 2023, following the award of our $50M Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant (and Alabama’s first CNI grant), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Fudge told Birmingham that our application to redevelop the Magic City’s historic Smithfield, College Hills, and Graymont neighborhoods was the most impressive she’d ever seen. Coming from a 45+ year public servant who committed her life to improving the lives of others, that compliment meant a lot to us. Today, on her final day at HUD, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to former Mayor, former Congresswoman, and now former U.S. Secretary Marcia L. Fudge for her service and dedication to advancing quality, safe and affordable housing.
February 2024
Terri Sewell visits Smithfield
Housing Authority of the Birmingham District
Last week, we welcomed Congresswoman Terri Sewell to our Smithfield Community to give an update on our $50M Choice Neighborhoods effort and announce $2.1M in additional funding for our Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program!
The HCV grant — one of seven awarded nationwide by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — will help us provide additional mobility related services and resources to program participants and offer more incentives to landlords who provide Section8 housing.
April 17, 2024
Noccalula Falls Visit
Smithfield Court Community Center
The natural beauty of waterfalls may also have a positive effect on mental well-being. In a study, participants who viewed nature images, including waterfalls, reported lower levels of stress and improved mood compared to those who viewed urban scenes. On April 17, 2024 a small group of seniors visited Noccalula Falls, a natural waterfall located in Gadsden, AL. This trip was an opportunity to expose some of the residents to the beauty of nature, in hopes of relieving some of the stresses living in Smithfield Court may cause.
July 27, 2023
The Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont Choice Neighborhood Grant will benefit the community
The Housing Authority of the Birmingham District and the City of Birmingham conducted an intensive resident, neighborhood and partner engagement process to craft the successful $50M Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant application submitted to HUD on January 10, 2023. The process of resident and community engagement will continue throughout the eight year Choice Neighborhoods revitalization period, as HABD and the City work with national and local partners to benefit the community.
July 26, 2023
Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont neighborhood awarded Choice Neighborhood Grant, bringing in $50M for revitalization
On July 26, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Marcia Fudge, traveled to Birmingham to announce that the Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont neighborhood will be receiving $50M to revitalize the community. Birmingham is one of eight U.S. cities to receive competitive federal funding as a part of HUD's Choice Implementation Neighborhood program. Secretary Fudge said Birmingham had one of the best grant applications that proposes better housing opportunities, service coordination for residents and neighborhood strategies, as well as new investments.
On April 17, 2023, the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District and the City of Birmingham were selected as a finalist for a $50M Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant that if awarded, will leverage $900 in public/private investments to transform Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont. Birmingham is honored to have the opportunity to demonstrate the Choice Initiatives are shovel ready, community driven and rooted in people and place.
March 24, 2023
Birmingham Awarded a $1.5M Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grant for Transit Innovation
On March 24,2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg awarded the Birmingham Regional Planning Commission (BPRC) a $1.5M Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grant for Transit Innovation. Listen to Secretary Buttigieg talk about how Birmingham will use the funds to convert existing public transportation systems into accessible and equitable, integrated multi-modal system focused on route optimization and planning, service integration and trip dispatching.
January 10, 2023
HABD and the City of Birmingham submit application for $50M Choice Grant - WBRC FOX6 Local News
On January 10, 2023, HABD and the City of Birmingham applied for a HUD Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant, in collaboration with Integral Development/Rule Enterprises, The Ascent Project, Birmingham City Schools, the University of Alabama, the United Way and other key stakeholders. The Choice Neighborhoods program leverages public and private dollars to support locally driven strategies that address obsolete public housing sites through a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation. Choice Neighborhoods funding supports the implementation of initiatives focused on three core goals: Housing, People and Neighborhoods.
In July, along with our partner the City of Birmingham, we were awarded a $50M HUD Choice Neighborhoods grant. We can’t tell the story of how our $50M award will transform one of the nation’s most historic neighborhoods — Smithfield — without including the voices of our residents who call this community home. Thank you, WVTM-TV, for helping share the perspectives of our residents who, like us and our many other partners, are excited about how this grant will bring new, affordable homes and help catalyze unprecedented economic development on Birmingham’s westside.
February 28, 2023
Birmingham submits a $21.7M RAISE grant application
On February 28, 2023, the City of Birmingham submitted a $21.7M Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant to the U.S. Department of Transportation focused on Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont. The project’s main goals are to improve connectivity, increase safety, enhance quality of life, improve public health, and revitalize the neighborhood. This project re-imagines Graymont Ave., 16th St. N., 5th Ave. N., and 4th Ave. N. by implementing a road diet that will transform the carcentric street grid into a Complete Street and Transit Corridor that prioritizes pedestrian and bicyclist safety, improves transit accessibility, and provides residents with multimodal transportation. The new streetscape will encourage increased foot traffic, creating more opportunities for local businesses to thrive and the district to recruit new ones. Additionally, the redesign will provide opportunities to create more resilient communities through green infrastructure that will combat Birmingham's urban heat islands and manage stormwater.
February 28, 2023
Birmingham awarded a $800,000 Reconnecting Communities Grant
On February 28, 2023, Birmingham was awarded a $800,000 DOT Reconnecting Communities Grant to reconnect Birmingham communities, including Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont, and plan for transit-centered, multimodal improvements that would have the greatest impact on citizen mobility as well as access to jobs, healthcare, grocery stores, schools, entertainment and green spaces. USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said “Transportation should connect, not divide, people and communities. We are proud to announce the first grantees of our Reconnecting Communities Program, which will unite neighborhoods, ensure the future is better than the past, and provide Americans with better access to jobs, health care, groceries and other essentials.”
Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont Choice Neighborhoods Transformation
Pushing for Better Housing - WVTM 13 Local News
HABD and the City of Birmingham, in collaboration with Choice Partners, submitted a $50 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on January 10, 2023 to fund the revitalization and transformation of the Smithfield Court public housing site and to provide significant investments throughout the Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont community.
Watch on the following social media links:
Resident/Community Driven Plan
Thank you to everyone that attended the October, November and December 2022 Resident and Neighborhood Meetings.
Over 200 neighbors provided input for the Choice Neighborhoods Implementation application. See our Choice Neighborhoods Resident, Community and Partner Engagement process here.
Download the December 16 2022 Smithfield Court/Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont Community Presentation.
City of Birmingham's commitment to creating Choice Neighborhoods
The City of Birmingham is strongly committed to the implementation of the transformative neighborhood plan for Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont. Mayor Woodfin and the City team are leading the charge as co-Applicant and Neighborhood Implementation Lead to successfully implement neighborhood strategies that will benefit the residents and the community at large.
Read more about the City's commitment Alabama News Article
Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont Choice Resident and Neighborhood Meeting
December 16, 2022
Smithfield Court Resident Meeting
November 9, 2022
Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont Choice Neighborhood Meeting
October 5, 2022
Smithfield Court Resident Meeting Recap
October 4, 2022