The Lovelady Center

Brenda Lovelady Spahn, along with her daughter, Melinda MeGahee, founded The Lovelady Center in 2004.

Brenda felt a calling to help women who had made mistakes - BIG mistakes. In her own home, she began taking in recent parolees. Her program began with just 7 women, some of whom were violent offenders. The program showed amazing success, quickly growing to almost 40 women.  A larger facility was necessary due to the enormity of the problem and the need for transitional programs. Brenda knew that many women needed help with substance abuse, domestic violence, homelessness, education, counseling, job training, and many more issues. She discovered that truly helping these women would also entail reuniting them with their children. The Lovelady Center keeps countless numbers of women and children out of the justice system and foster care systems. We are currently at full capacity with 500+ women and children, learning a new way of life and being introduced to Jesus Christ - in a renovated hospital in Birmingham's East Lake community.

Women released from prison in Alabama are given $10 and a ticket back to the county of their criminal charge. Women in county jails are increasing at alarming rates due to substance abuse arrests. Adequate treatment programs are largely unavailable for these women. Prisons are overcrowded, housing far more than the capacity allows. Tutwiler Women’s Facility was designed for a total capacity of 417, and currently Tutwiler’s capacity is 975. The Department of Justice Bureau of Statistics reports that around 68% of those who exit prison will re-enter within 3 years. Faith-based programs and other community re-entry programs are proven to help reduce recidivism rates. The Lovelady Center also helps reduce the burden on the Justice System by accepting drug court referrals as an alternative to incarceration and hosts the state's only Supervised Re-entry Program - inmates are brought here to complete the remainder of their sentence in our program. We are breaking the cycle of incarceration, homelessness, addiction, and poverty and we need your help!

No other program offers the scope of transitional services that The Lovelady Center offers. It is not a shelter that offers a temporary solution to life’s problems. Rather, it is a life-changing program with the goal of providing the tools necessary to overcome barriers to success.

The Lovelady Center strives to give women and children their lives back, and this is reflected in the Center’s purpose:  Empowering women, through faith-based initiatives, so they can return to society as well-equipped people of God.

The residential, faith-based program lasts 9-12 months, and graduation is determined on a case by case review done by client representatives and directors. The program is divided into 5 phases. Women attend counseling, classes and work therapy assignments  full-time. Classes are designed so that regardless of the nature of a resident’s struggles, a tailored class schedule can be developed. For example, women who have experienced domestic violence can benefit from the “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places” Class. Classes on life-skills such as Child Care and Financial Management are taught, as well as GED courses, tutoring, and a satellite college through a partnership with Judson College in Marion, Alabama. Once a resident obtains their GED, they may begin college right here in the Center, and continue their education when they transition back into society - their education being fully funded through grants and Judson College.

The Lovelady Center enables women to go forward in life by teaching them to properly support themselves and their children. When a woman is helped, a family benefits; when a family benefits, a community strengthens. Our program equips women and their children to become productive members of society.

Please prayerfully consider helping us change the way mothers are rehabilitated, for our state and nation as well.