First Light is a four-story building located on the corner of 4th Avenue North and 23rd Street in downtown Birmingham. The shelter is located in what used to be known as the city’s center of drug dealing, drug abuse, and prostitution- the Granada Hotel. When the first couple of floors of the hotel burned, community leaders launched a capital campaign. The generosity of Birmingham's downtown businesses, foundations, churches, and individual donors brought about the renovation of the Granada Hotel. It was redesigned especially for the needs of the homeless women and children in Birmingham, and reinvented to be a place of LIFE.
First Light's full- service kitchen
It is interesting to note that most spaces are multi-purpose. The day room is used as a sitting space and dining area. The program room where group therapies are conducted is also used for weekly Art Therapy classes. We have a fully-stocked commercial kitchen: volunteers either prepare meals at home to bring them in to serve or they come and prepare meals from scratch. There is a walk-in refrigerator, pantry, commercial-size freezer, convection oven, conventional oven, and pizza oven, with plenty of counter/workspace for food prep. First Light stocks all staple items while volunteers provide the meals served.
Because of our emphasis on helping our guests feel safe, a secured outside courtyard is provided in which the women can eat meals, visit with each other, or get some fresh air.
