BY KENDYL HOLLINGSWORTH
KENDYLH@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
AUBURN —
Another class of Leadership Lee County has come and gone, but the impact of the group’s end-of-year project will be felt long after.
The 2022-23 class’s 29 members, representing a wide range of professions, worked from March to May to revamp several rooms at the Domestic Violence Intervention Center (DVIC) in Lee County.
“DVIC would like to give a huge shout out to Leadership Lee County!” the organization posted on social media. Thank you for all you have done for the Domestic Violence victims in your area.”
One young professional, MAK Media Founder Christina Kluttz, recently reflected on the experience and how it has shaped her as a citizen of Lee County.
“It was really, really cool to be a part of, in terms of details of what we’re able to accomplish,” she said.
According to Kluttz, each class of Leadership Lee County is required to complete a service project. Class members pitch different ideas until they settle on one, then make plans to raise the necessary funds, gather needed materials and put in the hours of volunteer work to complete the project in time.
Kluttz said there were six nonprofits that members pitched in November 2022, but the group ultimately voted on the local DVIC. The Leadership Lee County Board approved the idea in January 2023.
According to statistics posted by DVIC, 85% of women will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives. In addition, about 20% of all violent crime in Alabama is domestic violence. Domestic violence hotlines receive more than 19,000 calls every day.
The local DVIC services a total of six Alabama counties: Lee, Chambers, Russell, Tallapoosa, Macon and Randolph counties.
“They’re essentially … an organization that supports victims of domestic violence by, one, getting them out of immediate danger — so giving them a place to land, to get away from whatever situation they’re in — not only them as individuals, but their families,” Kluttz explained. “But then, to the make sure that they equip them with an opportunity to make a better life for themselves.
“So, whether it’s helping them find a job or helping them with transportation needs, or providing them with food or whatever it may be, they facilitate that as well.”
The class started with a tour of the facility, then decided how best to focus its efforts.
“If we’re going to be effective and actually create a legacy and impact for DVIC to feel for a while, we needed to really focus in our efforts on a couple of particular things,” Kluttz said.
Based on what they observed during the tour, the class members decided to focus on upgrading the bedrooms and bathrooms at the DVIC. Kluttz said they created a campaign around their service project called “Making a Shelter a Home.”
The class members raised funds from January to March. Then, from March to the first week of May, they took turns volunteering in small groups to get the job done.
“What we noticed [was] the bedrooms felt very institutional, so they were just very bare bones — only because they didn’t have the resources required to put money and time into it,” she said. “And what we were finding when we toured were a lot of shelter guests … spent a lot of their private time in their rooms because the common areas are common, so anybody [living there] can just come and go. … If you want any type of privacy, you’re going to be in the rooms, so it’s so important for those rooms to feel inspiring — to be … like a breath of fresh air.”
Kluttz said the bathrooms had similar issues, mainly a lack of organization and minor maintenance issues, such as a toilet paper roll holder that needed repair.
The class formed a design team and gave each room a different theme. The design team then put together design boards for each of those rooms, choosing bedding, furniture, décor and other special touches to fit the theme. They also painted some walls to brighten up the spaces. For example, one room was beach-themed; it featured one blue wall, light-colored bedding and wall décor that showcased whales, seahorses, jellyfish and sea turtles.
The class upgraded the rooms in other ways as well: new carpet, blinds, blackout curtains, lamps and overhead lights with fans.
“We also decided that sound machines were really important,” Kluttz said. “… A lot of them came with kids or babies, so [the machines helped with] naptime. We were trying to be cognizant of what they were actually experiencing, so we provided them with blackout curtains if they … have a night shift, or if they have kids that are trying to nap in the middle of the day.”
After all was said and done, Leadership Lee County had enough funds leftover to help sponsor the DVIC’s second annual Love Shouldn’t Hurt gala on May 11.
“Hopefully that money goes toward whatever their next big effort is in upgrading,” Kluttz said.
Overall, Kluttz said her experiences in Leadership Lee County opened her eyes to various issues and how different organizations and civic departments work together to make the community a better place.
“When you get a bunch of leaders that care about their community together, it’s incredible what can be accomplished,” she said. “… This community is so special, and it helped me realize that as an individual in this community, we can effect really positive change if we continue to collaborate and work together, and also … educate ourselves on what organizations and initiatives are already in motion in the community that we can be a part of.
“… I went into [Leadership Lee County] just feeling like it was a good opportunity to build community with my peers, and then what I got from it 12 months later is so much more than what I originally anticipated with going in. Now, I feel so excited about encouraging other people to be a part of it because I hope they would have the same experience as me.”
