The Link of Cullman County Founder and Executive Director, Dawn Owens
CULLMAN – Seven years ago, Dawn Owens felt a calling to serve the needy in the Cullman community. She met with various people and groups around the area, and the eventual result was The Link of Cullman County. This week, the organization celebrated five years of service by moving into a new and larger facility located at 708 Ninth St. SE in Cullman. On Thursday, the Link held an open house at its new home, followed by a fundraising silent auction and dinner.
Owens reflected, “This all started five years ago yesterday (Mar. 1, 2012), basically because God made me really uncomfortable, and gave me a vision back in 2010 for an organization that would sit like a hub in a wheel and support the ongoing needs of our community. I kept asking, ‘What does that look like? How does that work?’ and came across the scripture ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; love your neighbor as yourself.’
“I’m not from here, so could never figure out how I would run anything like that or start anything like that. I came here only knowing my husband’s family, but could not let go of this vision. I just became more and more passionate about it. Little by little, people started to come on board with me.”
Today, the Link has 10 staff members, nine of them full-time, and a $500,000 annual budget. Last year they served 2,770 clients; with expanded facilities (including the old one on Third Avenue, which will be repurposed) they plan to serve even more with numerous programs including:
- crisis identification and goal-setting for new clients
- supervised visitation for parents and children
- youth and adult literacy
- job training
- Life Degree – a seven-part life skills program
- Wise Up – a financial skills program for teens
- Pure Joy – a craft program that teaches skills and produces goods for sale
- career coaching
- fitness center
- child care
- community meals
- “Necessities Store” – providing commonly-needed goods that are paid for through class attendance or volunteer services at the center
- Jobs Bus – to take people without transportation to work
Some of these programs have been underway for years. Others, like the Jobs Bus and community meals, are still on the drawing board until resources and personnel become available.
The Link serves as a clearing house for community services, and so has more partners than they can list easily. At its monthly community resource meetings, any number of local organizations and churches, from 10 to 30, are represented.
Owens did want to point out a few major partners with whom the Link has long-term relationships:
“We have always been engaged with Childhaven, from the start. Dr. Wright and I are great friends, and we’ve been serving Childhaven since the beginning. Restoring Women Outreach and Foundry Farm have been part of us for years; we’re all just kind of kindred spirits. Cullman Mental Health (Authority): both of our organizations supported a shelter program early on. Chris (Van Dyke, CMHA executive director) has been a huge encouragement to me.”
Owens offered special recognition to St. John’s Church for their giving to the Link use of the Third Avenue site, and to Cullman Church of Christ for the use of the new facility in a converted church building.
“Without them, none of this would be possible,” she added.
In looking back over the last five years and forward to the next, Owen offered these words: “This was just really a walk of faith, with a really big desire to love and serve the poor of the community. I want to encourage people that God puts passions and dreams in our hearts for a reason; sometimes the only thing we need to overcome is our fear. Once we do that, anything is possible.”
For more information on The Link of Cullman County, visit https://linkingcullman.org or call 256-775-0028.
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