The Downtown Jimmie Hale Mission, Inc.

In the late 30s and early 40s Jimmie Hale was known as the town drunk, but he eventually gave his life to Christ and began rewriting his story. Armed with a desire to share God’s life-changing love with others, and to help those walking where he had, Jimmie set out to create a place where homeless men could find encouragement and hope.

Jimmie soon married Jessie Davis, a school teacher from Moundville, Alabama, and the couple founded the Mission on March 25, 1944. Lives weren’t the only thing Jimmie was hoping to help reinvent, as the first mission location was the same building where the 39-year-old sold his last drink as a bartender.

Sadly, Jimmie passed away just eight months later due to health complications, leaving behind a 27-year-old pregnant widow. Jessie refused to forfeit her commitment to the dream she and her husband shared, however, and her resolve would prove to be the foundation on which the Mission would stand for generations to come.