By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Staff Writer

THORSBY – Turning Point Foundation has received a $10,000 energy efficient grant from Alabama Power to help provide central air-conditioning for the guy’s dormitory.

Turning Point is a non-profit organization that sits on 10 acres of land just outside of downtown Thorsby. Its goal is to help men that are suffering from addiction by directing them back to Jesus Christ.

They offer a 12-week program, which is open to men 18-years-of-age or older. Right now Turning Point is housing about 30 men at their facility, which includes a chapel, an outdoor basketball court, bedrooms, a playground, disc golf, classrooms and a computer lab.

“Through a charitable trust fund we give grants for energy efficient purposes,” said Alabama Power’s Tyler Cobb. “It’s done quarterly and we work together with the non-profit organizations to determine what will best suit them and help their energy efficiency.”

Turning Point does a lot of recreational activities to keep their occupants busy and away from trouble, but they also have help from the local churches and guest speakers such as Rick Burgess from Rick and Bubba who have made their way to the facility.

“We are a 12 week faith based, Christ centered program,” said Director of Administration at Turning Point Tim Dean. “We do believe in the Christian 12 steps and the guys have classes every morning from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. that focus on that.”

A new transitional facility in Jemison is also offered for occupants that aren’t quite ready to go straight back out in the world after spending their 12 weeks at the program.

The grant came at an important time because originally the dormitory had single window units in each room, but they would break, which during the middle of summer could cause major issues.

“We just couldn’t have guys being that hot or cold when those units would break,” Dean said. “This summer we wouldn’t have made it without the new unit.”

That new unit he speaks of is a brand new central air-conditioning unit that has not only kept the guys cool this summer, but also been very cost efficient for the program, as it would cost them around $600 to fix a window unit when they broke in the past.

Both Dean and Executive Director David Pendley said that it is be challenging for them to get a grant provider to come down and take a look around the facility because of their distance from a major city, so this grant from Alabama Power really meant a lot.

“When they come here they love the property, they love what we are doing and we do what we say we are going to do with the money,” Dean said. “If we can just get them down here to see what we are doing that really helps our case out.

Both Dean and Pendley said they would love to eventually have enough money to start a women’s clinic as well so they can help and have a positive impact on as many people as possible.

Dean said that locally Alabama Power Manager at Chilton County Economic Development Van Forrester really helped push this grant through and show why it was so needed.

“I just can’t express enough how helpful Van was in this process and how gracious we are to have been offered this grant for that reason. He didn’t have to take time out of his day to help us out, but he did,” Dean said.