2024 Annual Report final

2024 Annual Report

HERE’S WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST YEAR AND WHAT’S TO COME! This year, partnerships have been instrumental in driving the most significant growth toward economic stability that ELI Thrive families have experienced in our 14 years of existence. Coaching is making a tangible impact. With each Thrive Coach working with 25–30 families each month, we served 203 families in 2024. These families are securing better employment, achieving stable housing, and breaking cycles of generational poverty.

In August 2024, we celebrated the graduation of 17 program participants. Twenty-four individuals launched businesses with support from BCI, ELI's business incubator, and 59 completed FLIP, ELI's financial literacy program, equipping them with tools for longterm economic success. And these are just a few of the numbers we are happy to share!

We embraced multiple opportunities to collaborate on new projects that strengthened the services we provide to families. Through a partnership with Jeff State Community College, ELI Thrive was proud to receive funding from the Good Jobs Challenge. This collaboration enables our team to offer coaching to three cohorts of women enrolled in a phlebotomy certification course. We recently completed the first cohort, with 11 graduates. These women are entering the workforce earning a livable wage and will continue working with an ELI Thrive coach to develop budgeting skills and financial literacy, paving the way for greater economic stability.

Empowering families is the key to creating long-term change and lasting stability.

When a low- to moderate-income family begins working with an ELI coach, the parent takes the driver’s seat. Our staff provides expertise and support through monthly budget meetings, resources for employment and education, and wrap-around services like access to food market and utility assistance. Ultimately, these families are empowered to shape their futures.

2024 Annual Report

Program Highlights

Stories of Impact

FLIP

Ribbon Cutting

2024 Income & Expense

A LETTER FROM PAM BATESEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

We witness it daily: when people feel supported and heard, they rise to the occasion and grow stronger. ELI Thrive is deeply grateful to you for entrusting us with funding that drives lasting impact and empowers families to thrive.

Partners

Program Highlights Good Jobs Challenge Through a partnership with Jeff State Community College, ELI Thrive was proud to receive funding from the Good Jobs Challenge.

This collaboration enables our team to offer coaching to three cohorts of women enrolled in a phlebotomy certification course. We recently completed the first cohort, with 11 graduates.

These women are entering the workforce earning a livable wage and will continue working with an ELI Thrive coach to develop budgeting skills and financial literacy, paving the way for greater economic stability.

The Gathering Place With the generosity of an anonymous donor; we were able to create a space in the community to foster relationships. The Gathering Place hosts our Active Parenting Classes, garden volunteer refreshment space, ELI board meetings, and is open to community partners for meeting space.

The space was transformed from a previous rental home. There is a coaching office as well as a playroom where childcare can be offered during classes.

Stories of Impact Here is a quote from one of our program graduates who spoke at the graduation ceremony in August.

Our participants can articulate the benefits of ELI Thrive better than we can!

"First of all, I want to thank everyone at ELI for all the encouragement. And Macy, I want to thank you in particular because I gave you a really hard time with budgeting! I felt more comfortable with calling it a spending plan—but whichever word you used, it got me there. I'm proud to say that I closed on my home in October 2023.

The most profound part of the program for me was the financial aspect. It was something I wasn’t taught, and you can’t teach what you don’t know. Our parents did the best they could, but now I have the chance to pass on this knowledge to my daughter and grandchildren. With their allowances, they’re already using the envelope system, and it’s been a big help for all of us.

Overall, the program has been truly great and encouraging. I tell everyone I meet about it, and I just want to say thank you all so much."

-ELI Graduate

Amari’s Story Amari’s story is a powerful testament to the transformative impact of ELI Thrive. Growing up in a single-mother household, below the poverty line, with a family history of substance abuse and mental illness, Amari often heard narratives predicting her future as a single mom or ending up in prison. But through ELI’s tutoring and mentoring program, she discovered a different path —one of purpose, resilience, and opportunity.

Through programs like "Created for a Purpose," Amari learned that she was created for more. ELI introduced her to new experiences, including learning the violin, which opened the door for her to attend the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA). Today, she is thriving on a full scholarship at UAB. Reflecting on her journey, Amari shared: "There is something else. We could be something else. It takes a community to dismantle the pipeline for impoverished communities. If I didn’t have ELI, I don’t know where I would be. This program is a seed in the garden that our community needs. Having people hold my hand and tell me I could be someone changed my entire perspective. Cycles can be broken. Generational trauma can be healed."

Now, as Amari continues to thrive, she’s paying it forward: “Thank God I have a job now because I will be donating some of my own money.”

Amari’s journey reminds us that what we do at ELI truly makes a difference—and the stories of impact continue to grow.

FLIP One requirement for participation in our program is financial literacy training. In 2024 we began partnering with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System at Alabama A&M University and offering FLIP: Financial Literacy in Progress classes to our participants. These classes are designed to empower our clients with essential financial knowledge and skills.

This year we had 59 Graduates from the FLIP program!

Ribbon Cutting ELI Thrive celebrated a significant milestone in November 2024 with the ribbon cutting for our New Housing Initiative in the East Lake neighborhood.

This transformative project includes 15 new homes designed to provide safe, affordable housing for families in the Birmingham community.

"This is community development. This work that we're sitting in today is community development.

And it's not done for the people, but it is done with the people. And that is what you all have done at ELI. Working with community partners, working with the residents, and I know that this work is not easy. But you all have stayed the course and we have something beautiful that is here today.

-Cory Stallworth, City of Birmingham

Individual gifts, rent, interest 21%

2024 INCOME

Housing 18.8%

Community Bldg 2.1%

2024 EXPENSE Thrive 55.2% Operating 24%

Foundation and Corporate Grants 79%

A huge thank you to everyone who makes our work possible!

Alabama Civil Justice Foundation Alabama Cooperative Extension Alabama Environmental Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. -Alpha Beta XI Omega Chapter Asbury United Methodist Church Barrett Elementary School Birmingham Landbank Blue Cross/Blue ShieldCaring Foundation Bryant Bank Cadence Bank Childrens Trust Fund of Alabama Childcare Resources Christ Church Birmingham City of Birmingham Coca-Cola BottlingCompany United Community FoundationGreater Birmingham

Crosspoint Church Davison Bruce Foundation EBSCO Community Impact Enterprise Mobility Foundation Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Grace Klein Community Harbert Management Corporation Hill Crest Foundation Holle Family Foundation Hope Inspired Ministries Housing Authority- Birmingham Housing Affordability Trust Huffman Bptist Church Iberia Bank Jefferson CountyCommunity Service Fund Jefferson State Community College Lawson State Community College MedExcel Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation

Mission Increase Movement Birmingham Navigate Affordable Housing Partners Neighborhood Housing Services Oak Tree Ministries Operation Hope Redeemer Community Church Regions Foundation Representative Neil Rafferty Salvation Army Samford University Serving You Ministries South State Bank University of Alabama UAB Wells Fargo Bank Women's Foundation of Alabama Woodlawn United Workfaith Birmingham

ELI THRIVE

HELLO@ELITHRIVE.COM

www.elithrive.com

6523 1st Avenue North Birmingham, AL 35206