Opelika, AL

I had the most delightful visit this week with long-time Opelika residents, Jack and Betty Walton. After seventy years together, the Opelika Observer deemed it newsworthy, and asked me to do the story. Throughout our conversation, I couldn't help but reflect on the most evident and enduring qualities that create a strong relationship and prosperous community legacy.

It all begins with caring about each other. I am grateful for amazing folks that are the neighbors in Opelika... Let me introduce you to Betty and Jack, and their story that was published in the January 27th issue:

[First published in the OPELIKA OBSERVER 10-21-11 issue ]

Just as fall began making its cooling, color-changing appearance, a big, bold mandala (a sanskrit work meaning "circle") appeared in a shop window on Avenue A, introducing Transformations Life Center to the Opelika business community.

In art, mandalas suggest a focal point through repeated designs, concentric squares and circles and/or geometric patterns, traditionally illustrating an indistinguishable wholeness, sometimes representing an entire world or universe. They engage the world of symbolism and often evoke contemplation that can guide one on a transformative path.

Transformations Life Center is the start-up of Dr. Bridget Finlen Smith, a licensed, clinical psychologist with a specialty in child and adolescent psychology. Dr. Smith runs a traditional, clinical practice, Psychological Associates, LLC, in Auburn, where she is devoted to assessment and psychotherapy for individuals, couples and families. Observing how education and sharing common experiences makes a difference in a person's quality of life, the idea for Transformations was a natural progression for Bridget's work. She began thinking about how to expand affordable services into the community and saw that group work would be an enriching way to address many common struggles and foster one's sense of human connectedness.

"I love groups," Bridget said, "because it’s a shared experience. These groups are trying to help you sleep better, encourage better health habits, become better parents. We are facilitators. What we will do here is really about 75 percent teaching and 25 percent about being a clinician. Groups are also easier to manage for a busy person's schedule."

Bridget's inspiration for Transformations comes from the vision of moving away from a strictly clinical approach and tapping into springs of wellness and more preventative and positive approaches to balances in health, relationships and lifestyle. The Life Center emphasizes the learning of positive paths and applying them to dimensions of daily life.

" I want people to value their psychological health as much as they value their medical health. Why don’t we have more optimistic children or children that can develop a more compassionate heart? It’s important to take a little knowledge and nurture it and let it blossom. No one teaches us how to handle a lot of daily battles. It's important to learn about coping skills, resilience, wellness and peace of mind. So this is the transforming shift, learning about new ways to think about these things."

Although she's lived in Auburn with her REALTOR-husband, JR, and two sons, Stephen and Jeffrey, Bridget fell in love with Opelika years ago, and is happy to be placing a footprint here in the railroad town.

"We eat here a lot and come here to shop. I discovered this building for lease on a rainy day, when I'd come to Opelika to meet a friend for lunch. While waiting, I walked inside the empty office space and the owner happened to be here, and we struck up a conversation. I couldn't stop thinking about it and, three days later, I called to see about renting, even though I couldn't at the time, exactly articulate my vision."

Sometimes we can throw some light on challenges and what was dark, simply vanishes.

"When folks come in, I want them to feel better and to come back," Bridget said.

Transformations Life Center hopes to offer people in the community some ways to "see" themselves and their responsibilities in a better light. People can't read in the dark, much less live.

Book titles on child-raising, relationships, family conflicts, chronic pain and a variety of resources fill the shelves, framed by walls and tables that hold displays of inspirational retail items, including jewelry.

Stop by and say hello or visit the website, http://www.transformationslifecenter.org for a complete list of ongoing classes and groups being offered for families, couples and adults.

Smith holds a master's and doctorate from Auburn University, and did an internship at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She has been practicing since 1984.

By Mara Hawks
Opelika Observer

Every day, thousands of Lee County residents hold a miracle in their hand. We call it as a cell phone, but less than 100 years ago, the original phone phenomenon was referred to as a miracle. Telephone lines that had initially boasted a 100-foot conduit, now reached thousands of miles across the continent. It was experienced as a miracle on many levels, opening banks of silence that put the growth of commerce and communities on a track that the railroads could not. Discovery and invention made its mark in history, driven on the road of achievement.

Achievement Center — Easter Seals in Opelika was established in 1961 in Lee County. The organization also serves the surrounding counties of Macon, Chambers, Russell and Tallapoosa. With the affiliated support of Easter Seals and associated support of the United Way of Lee County, Achievement Center is able to offer vocational development services and extended employment programs for adults with disabilities. But there is so much more to this.

As we know, looking closely at people living with disabilities typically reveals a wide range of capabilities as well. I like to think of this as “abilities minus one.” The collected force of people-power at the Achievement Center, efficiently applied to the business of manufacturing, assembling and packaging, produces excellent results. The forum for this success is established as the on-site Work Center.

This is where well-trained and capable workers are employed in providing a full menu of production services for business and industry needs, including but not limited to product assembly, sewing, packaging, auto-bagging, contract rework and repair, collating and labeling, construction of wood pallets and crates, etc.

Furrel Bailey, administrator of The Achievement Center, spoke highly of his staff of administrators, instructors, managers and supervisors, as he shared with me some of the ongoing success. This past year, the program succeeded in placing approximately 80 people into jobs. On any given week, they are coaching and training around 20 on-site clients and 70 offsite applicants.

Ongoing and on-site training and coaching programs are in place for things like job searching, adult education, and instruction for work in the food and housekeeping industries.

Just this past year they added a new program that supports low income persons, age 55 and older, wanting to re-enter the changing workforce. Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) assists these people in readiness and job placement.

I had an opportunity to talk a bit with Mike Morehouse, Engineering Manager, when I stopped in to visit the non-profit facility. It was early afternoon and production was up and running.

Morehouse kindly gave me a tour, sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm for Achievement Center's essential mission. Beyond the essentials, however, what I found remarkable was the vision of a community- minded business plan, operating successfully with quality control measures as a mere by-product of a highly functioning operating system. Rather than selecting the occasional, random product for testing, each and every item was being handled, inspected and processed. Any variations in color, pattern or design would bring a knock at the manager's door.

While touring the work center, I observed quantities of items being built, tested, sorted, sewn, assembled and packaged, by workers reflecting qualities of skill, focus, precision, purposefulness, contentment, playfulness and joy. And it was impossible to overlook the overall sense of pride these workers felt for their individual part in the bigger achievement of the whole group. This was teamwork at its best. How can partnering with Achievement Center – Easter Seals be beneficial and profitable for your business?

A one-stop shop: a quality labor force and warehouse/work space that creates a valuable resource that efficiently fills in the gap for your production needs, whether for emergency shipment and supply (ie for natural disaster relief), or for a short or long-term production schedule.

Cost effectiveness — your overhead is reduced when Achievement Center handles the basic administrative and accounting costs in terms of paperwork trails, tracking, receiving, manufacturing/ assembling and shipping of product, all considered with competitive pricing and negotiable rates.

Systems and Solutions — A full-time engineering staff, production supervisors, inventory and quality control management and a solid governing board, welcome the opportunity to design and find solutions for your business needs. Before you outsource, call for a free consultation. Let's try to make it in America.

Some of the businesses that regularly employ the Work Center services include Briggs & Stratton, Hoerbiger Hydraulics, Endries International, Kia, AU, Auburn-Opelika Tourism, Knauf, Masterbrand Cabinets, Fastenal, Sears, Matrix Wire, Rexnord/Falk, Packaging Corp. of America, Intercontinental Packaging, Docs Huntn Stuff and Hanil USA.

Get to know your local resources. It's good to know where they are and how to support their foundations, as they are the grounding and gears that can sustain a community and keep it flourishing through turbulent political and economic climates.

Achievement Center – Easter Seals is one of those really good neighbors, a valuable and local resource. It's a tremendous blessing for our community that we have this door to knock on.

Stories and works of achievement can become gifts for a struggling spirit and deepen the faith and goodwill of a community.

The imagination to dream and the longing to achieve are hallmarks of human development. A miracle is in your hand. Reaching out locally, logs miles of achievement for a whole community.

With its focus on community, the business model of Achievement Center – Easter Seals includes each one of us in its business plan, benefitting all of us with the opportunity to work and live profitably together. Let's spread the word.

For more information on how your business can benefit by partnering with Achievement Center- Easter Seals, or to learn more about the advantage that you, your business or dream project can have with the local services offered, visit their website at www.achievement-center.org, or contact Mike or Furrel at (334) 745-3501.

ALL ARE WELCOME to hear Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi, a masterwork in the choral/orchestral repertoire.

The Auburn Univerrsity Community Orchestra conducted by Dr. Howard Goldstein, will be joined by The Arts Association of East Alabama Civic Chorale, Jim Sikes, Director; The Auburn University Chamber Choir, William Powell, Director; and The Tuskegee University Golden Voices Choir, Wayne Barr, Director. Featured soloists are Lori Guilbeau, Soprano; Anne Duraski, Mezzo-Soprano; Jason Collins, Tenor; and Jordan Bisch, Bass.

This event is Sunday, April 10th, at the First Baptist Church in Opelika, located downtown at 301 South 8th Street. Admission is FREE.