Rachel Baribeau is Changing the Narrative in college sports and beyond from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

The Auburn graduate and former Pell City resident had a career many would consider perfect: covering SEC football and other sports, from the sidelines and from her college football talk show on Sirius/XM (where she was the network’s first female college sports host).

Baribeau was well-respected enough among her peers to be granted a Heisman Trophy ballot. But it was her work away from the microphone that made the most noise.

“The idea that there is royalty inside of all of us; that there is legacy and purpose and greatness.” Baribeau beams as she describes the impact of the conversations she had been having with college athletes.

“Changing the Narrative” was Baribeau’s passion project – a movement that promotes positive mental health and inspiring people to build a positive legacy for others. She took her “Purpose – Passion – Platform” message on a nationwide tour of college football programs, filled with candid heart-to-heart conversations.

After spending four years on this consulting journey, Baribeau announced last October that she would be walking away from sports to concentrate on Changing the Narrative full time.

“I started with this desire and belief that athletes could trend for something other than bad news,” Baribeau said.

Now a nonprofit, Changing the Narrative has expanded further. Baribeau is now in demand in locker rooms, board rooms, law enforcement agencies and entire athletic conferences. “We already have the Big Ten on board; how great would it be to be in all of the Power Five conferences?”

Baribeau is scaling the program in several ways. First, the pandemic has forced a shift to more online training and modules. Second, the material is being tweaked to skew younger for high school audiences. Finally, Baribeau is training a network of other speakers including former athletes who can bring their own experiences of Changing the Narrative to even more audiences.

(Courtesy of Alabama News Center)

“I was laying in bed Sunday night, watching these scenes unfold where Birmingham was in chaos. Seeing this was so sad,” said Pappas, owner of Norton’s Florist in Birmingham.

When Carolyn Chen called Pappas later, an idea was born. The owner of Wild Things Flowers & Curiosities in Homewood, Chen thought that decorating the entrance of the Rotary Trail could be a start to bringing emotional healing to the Magic City.

Unlike other apps, such as Yelp!, the audience for Props isn’t other customers seeking reviews. “We don’t want to be a place for negativity. This isn’t about a customer’s gripes; this is a place to express thanks for employees who went over and above,” said Taylor Peake, founder of the app’s developer, MotionMobs.

App users can register a Prop (a digital thank-you) for someone who made their day better, and leave the feedback for management. “Too often, the suggestion form doesn’t create the right vibe for the thanking of employees who stand out, and the process is so much that customers just don’t do it,” Peake said.

While the original version of Props was more oriented toward retail businesses and restaurants, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has identified other groups in need of kudos and encouragement: medical workers and those in health care and front-line fields.

“Sometimes that unsung hero is the office worker who helps you navigate the paperwork and helps you get your care more quickly,” Peake said. “Those people don’t work for tips, and their supervisors almost never know the impact they have on relieving pain and anxiety from customers and patients.”

Props launched for metro Birmingham last summer, and by design will not be an overnight success.

“We built Props to recognize the many front-line employees whose work goes unnoticed and unappreciated every day. And now, more than ever, they need that positive feedback and encouragement as we all struggle to adapt to our changing world,” Goodwyn said. “We know there are challenges ahead when it comes to user adoption and how this integrates with business goals, but we’re intently focused on the people we built Props to serve and we’re looking forward to continuing to evolve our product to meet that mission.”

Plans include expansion into Montgomery once the Props team is comfortable with the recent addition to its mission.

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)

Orders to stay home, designed to limit the spread of COVID-19, have varying degrees of impact on the nonprofit’s programs. The youth center has closed and HIV testing has been suspended. The wellness center now sees clients only by appointment and is filling prescriptions over the phone. But one of the more high-touch services continues to fill a vital need – food boxes.

In a typical week, BAO provides food baskets and gas vouchers for nearly 200 AIDS patients in the greater Birmingham area. “We already exist in this world where we have to consider how to help people with compromised immune systems,” Musgrove said. “We know what it’s like to practice universal precautions; it’s ingrained in who we are.”

Those food baskets contain fresh fruit and produce, canned goods and, since this past December, cleaning supplies. Given the uncertainty of the coronavirus, staff members were concerned that few of them would be able to show up for the assistance. Instead, nearly everyone arrived for their appointment, kept safe from COVID-19 exposure by new procedures such as curbside pickup.

Musgrove has had to rearrange schedules and work areas. A few employees work from home, while volunteers are not able to help at all for now. Essential staff members are assigned to keep the population in each site to a minimum and to keep workers from intermingling between buildings.

“It’s amazing how prepared the BAO staff are, and they are going the extra mile to help our clients during this time,” she said. “The need for BAO’s essential services (food, medical services, counseling, legal and case management) is too important to the community we serve.”

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)