120th Anniversary Newsletter

This year marks the Dumas Wesley Community Center’s 120th year of service to the community! We’ll be celebrating this milestone throughout the year with special events, giving challenges, and by sharing a few of our big dreams in the years ahead. Stay tuned!

Celebrate with us! Text DONATE to 251.325.3939 to support

Dumas Wesley Community Center's 120th Anniversary Campaign!

Dumas Wesley - The Early Years

The Dumas Wesley Community Center (DWCC) was founded in 1903 by the United Methodist Women, under the leadership of Mrs. Jeremiah T. Dumas. Dumas Wesley was originally tasked with providing childcare to the disadvantaged families working in the local cotton mills.

Historical highlights:

1904 - The establishment of the first Settlement Home where settlement work began in the Crichton Cotton Mill District
1929 - Purchase of the "Dumas Wesley House" was finalized to provide childcare and a vacation bible school program for local children
1952 - The Dumas House began serving the Crichton community with activities that served nearly 5,000 individuals by 1957
1966 - Child Development Center opened, with the addition of Kindergarten for area children
1967 - The Dumas Wesley House was reincorporated with its new name of Dumas Wesley Community Center
1970 - Strategic priorities were established: pre-school and daycare programming, neighborhood development and multi-pronged social services
1974 - First Annual Toy Store was held on December 14th, to provide low-income families an opportunity to purchase new toys and bikes for Christmas at a fraction of their retail value
1977 - Senior Activities for Independent Living (SAIL) Program and the Family Home Day Care Program began serving senior citizens and licensed home day care providers
1982 - The DWCC Board of Directors purchased the former Crichton Assembly of God Church and Academy property on Mobile Street which serves as the Center’s present campus
1988 - Planning for housing services for homeless women and children began. Groundbreaking of the Sybil Smith Family Village transitional housing program took place on July 14th
2000 - Thirty-two homeless women and children were served at the Sybil Smith Family Village, during its first full year of operation
2001 - Groundbreaking for Dumas Wesley's new south wing began on July 10th
2010 - Gulf States Immigration Services became a partner tenant of Dumas Wesley, providing legal assistance to families and individuals navigating the complexities of the immigration process
2011 - The Joseph Project Food Pantry began serving the community as a partnership between Ashland Place United Methodist Church and Dumas Wesley
2012 - The Dumas Wesley Clothing Closet opened through a partnership with The University of Mobile Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) business class
2019 - Sybil Smith Family Village celebrated its 20th Anniversary, serving over 2,000 homeless individuals since 1999
2021 - Dumas Wesley welcomed Harbor Community Church as a place of worship on Sundays

Present Day

Today, the Center offers over a dozen programs and services for the working poor and the homeless in the Mobile community. Program highlights for 2022 include:

305,151 direct services for low-income families, at-risk youth, disadvantaged seniors and homeless women and children
21,211 bed nights for homeless individuals in shelter
20,313 meals served to homebound and congregate senior citizens
672 hours of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities for local youth
249,700 nutritious meals served to 446 children enrolled in the Center’s Child and Adult Care Food Program
150 children served in the Annual Christmas Toy Store

Looking Ahead

The Dumas Wesley Community Center and the Baldwin Family Village Foundation are proud to announce the launch of Baldwin County’s first transitional housing program, the Baldwin Family Village. Slated to open this April, it will be operated by the Dumas Wesley Community Center, modeled after its highly successful transitional housing program, the Sybil Smith Family Village. The Village enjoys an average success rate of 88% among residents who completed the program and remained permanently housed for two years. This figure is 45% higher than the national average, according to the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), a data collection service which measures housing services and outcomes nationwide.

The Baldwin Family Village will provide 12 months of housing stability and wrap-around services for up to 100 women and children annually. According to United Way of Southwest Alabama’s crisis calls, in 2021, 1/3 of the calls received from Baldwin County are related to homelessness and/or housing assistance. Last year, the Baldwin County Public School System reported that 300 school-age children were homeless on any given night in Baldwin County.

Baldwin Family Village Progress Timeline:

January 2022:19570 County Road 33, Fairhope, AL, a former memory care facility, identified as a potential site for the Baldwin Family Village
February 2022: Property placed under contract at a purchase price of $700,000
May 2022: The Baldwin Family Village Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Baldwin Family Village, raised more than $700,000 to purchase the property and entered into an operating agreement with Dumas Wesley
June 2022: The Baldwin Family Village property was purchased outright
Year-End Achievements: To date, $656,481 has been raised for the Baldwin Family Village’s three year operating budget of $1,620,000

To learn more about the Baldwin Family Village and its community partners, click here.

Get Involved!

Volunteer Opportunities

Job Opening: Director of the Baldwin Family Village

126 Mobile Street, Mobile, Alabama 36607 • 251.479.0649

www.dumaswesley,org