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Bayron Wilson oversees all Urban Alchemy services, including negotiating contracts, representing the organization at meetings, coaching managers, and supporting employees. With over 15 years of experience helping formerly incarcerated individuals re-enter the workforce, he has managed nonprofit organizations focused on creating employment opportunities for those facing barriers.

Homelessness remains a concern in the city of Birmingham, but it’s not going unnoticed. Urban Alchemy has been operating in the Magic City for a little over six months. HEART responds to calls every day.

As long as it’s hot, Urban Alchemy will host monthly community events that connect the unhoused to essential resources, as well as weekly barbecues.

Welcome back! Today, I sit down with Lena Miller, the Co-Founder and CEO of Urban Alchemy.

In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Lucinda Koza is joined by Dr. Lisa De La Rue—licensed psychologist, trauma specialist, and Chief Education and Research Officer at Urban Alchemy—for a candid conversation about parenting through trauma, the stigma surrounding formerly incarcerated mothers, and how healing becomes possible when we give ourselves permission to stumble.

A handful of people graduated from a job training program meant to help people experiencing homelessness gain a certification in a high-demand job field: heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).

People are going through trauma and you need to meet them where they are. If you think they need mental health treatment, but they’re telling you what they really need is help finding a way to call their sister, help them call their sister. Working with them in good faith builds trust and can help get them past what you…

My last choice was to reconnect with my family, which consists of my daughter, father, and sister. This was the most difficult choice. It was not easy. I had a lot to explain, and I had to work hard to rebuild trust. For some of them, learning to trust me again took years.

Just a few weeks ago, about a dozen homeless people were sleeping and eating outside of a closed gas station on Finley Boulevard. It drew so much attention that Artie Gilbert, executive director of Urban Alchemy, and staff got a phone call about it.

The nonprofit Urban Alchemy has been integral to efforts to keep open-air drug scenes from popping back up again. Lurie had told the Bay Area Reporter during a recent visit to the Castro that, “We should do the same thing here we have done on Sixth Street, which is make sure we get people off the street and into mental…

Three months into its mission, Urban Alchemy’s Homeless Engagement and Response Team—better known as HEART—is making an impact in Birmingham.

He also praised Urban Alchemy, whose ambassadors patrol intersections and deescalate chaotic street scenes, and Code Tenderloin, which provides job training for homeless residents and formerly incarcerated people.