Birmingham to Open Oasis Day Center for Homeless 9%
By Daniel Gaddy14%
7/28/2026, 10:13:55 PM
Keywords: Homeless, Smithfield
BS Summary: This article contains 19 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Emotion, Hasty Generalization, and Anecdotal, with Optimism Bias as the most egregious example at 8.9% saturation with 60 hits. Analysis detected 432 faulty-reasoning hits from 672 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 19.3% and a BS Rank of 9% (25,609 of 28,003 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 91.50% of the article peer group.
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved an $850,000 agreement that will establish a daytime center where people who are homeless can access critical services.
“Homelessness cannot be solved with a single program or by simply asking people to move from one place to another,” Mayor Randall Woodfin said.
“Our strategy is to meet people where they are, connect them to the services they need and help them transition into stable housing.
Birmingham Oasis builds on the work we’ve already begun by creating a place where outreach, healthcare, recovery and housing services come together under one coordinated approach.”
The Oasis will be on 0.21 acres at 600 Third Ave.
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Under the agreement approved Tuesday, the nonprofit homeless outreach group Urban Alchemy will run the center.
The California-based Urban Alchemy already operates the city’s Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team program, or Heart.
These workers answer calls from the community for issues such as loitering, mental health crises and public disturbances.
They assist by connecting residents in crisis to other resources and service providers.
According to city staff, the investment approved Tuesday includes $50,000 for a three-year ground lease on the property, $600,000 for operating costs and $200,000 in capital investment.
The majority of this funding is provided through the national opioid settlement money awarded to the city.
Urban Alchemy was selected through a request for proposal process, according to city officials.
Oasis will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and offer services such as:
Housing navigation and case management
Mental health and substance use treatment referrals
Peer support and recovery services
Life-skills coaching
Assistance obtaining identification and vital records
Employment connections
Care coordination
Meal services and food distribution
Drinking water and snacks
Public restrooms
Personal lockers and storage
Naloxone (Narcan) access
A dog park
Shaded gathering spaces and heated areas during colder weather
According to city leaders, Oasis will feature 24-hour surveillance, an emergency blue-light phone and on-site trauma-informed staff working alongside Birmingham police and Urban Alchemy.
Officials expect Oasis to open in late September.
The council took up the matter of the Oasis center in November but set the item aside after council members mentioned concerns.
Those included the number of clients helped for the cost as well as a report in September of Urban Alchemy workers in Austin having misrepresented data.
Councilor Hunter Williams said on Tuesday that he continues to believe that the Oasis isn’t an appropriate use of taxpayer money.
“I still have the same concern over the use of opioid money for this,” said Williams, who was the lone no vote for the agreement.
Councilor Darrell O’Quinn, who represents the district where Birmingham Oasis will be located, said he believes this will help build trust and connect unhoused residents with vital resources.
“There are unhoused individuals living in every single one of Birmingham’s 99 neighborhoods.
I’m glad to see us making progress on addressing this issue and helping improve people’s lives,” O’Quinn said.
“We’ve heard that it takes up to 20 points of contact for individuals experiencing homelessness to accept resources or help in some way from the providers we have in town.
I believe this project will help build that trust.
Beyond that, it gives people a place to take a shower, use the bathroom, and do their laundry.
Unless you’ve experienced that, it’s hard to quantify the positive impact those resources can have on a person’s life.
This is a long-term investment; it’s not a silver bullet.
We’re going to be tracking metrics and gauging the impact so that we can have data on what’s working and what can improve.”
Funding for the Oasis is part of a $3 million investment in the city’s operating budget to strengthen homelessness services and expand outreach.
In another homelessness-related item, the council on Tuesday also approved an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property and public rights-of-way.
The measure calls for the removal of any unlawfully established camp and the provision of resources to connect homeless people with resources.
Speakers
3speakers39%attributed speech411writer words
Selected voice
89%flagged-word coverageCouncilor Darrell O’Quinn
168 attributed words64% of attributed speech25% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
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