MCAA
LifeCity Validated the Impact of Magic City Acceptance Academy in Homewood, AL
In August 2024, LifeCity visited Homewood, AL to validate the impacts of AMCREF Community Capital’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) investment into Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA), an LGBTQ+ affirming public charter school. MCAA is a program of Birmingham AIDS Outreach (BAO), a local organization that has been enhancing the lives of individuals in the Birmingham area with HIV and AIDS since 1985. BAO opened Magic City Acceptance Center, a community center for LGBTQ+ youth, in 2014, and Magic City Wellness Center, a medical facility focused on the needs of the LGBTQ+ community, in 2016. MCAA is BAO’s most recent project, having opened in 2021.
MCAA serves LGBTQ+ youth, but Dr. Patton Furman, MCAA’s principal, made it clear that the school is open to anyone and has a very diverse student population. Much of the student population has come from challenging situations in other schools, whether that be the result of bullying or other situations that made student life untenable. MCAA offers students and faculty a variety of mental health resources, including a Wellness Suite with licensed social workers and counseling services. The school is currently serving around 360 students, with space for up to 490 as it reaches full capacity.
In addition to the major benefits for local youth, MCAA is creating over 40 quality jobs in a severely distressed low-income community, with wages averaging significantly above the local living wage. MCAA is part of a revitalization of the surrounding area, with BAO planning to work with MCAA to expand to additional buildings and even create additional, related projects for early childcare and seniors.
MCAA is an example of the diversity of projects that can benefit from NMTC financing. The same program that can benefit a rural manufacturer or a regenerative farm can also improve the lives of youth experiencing social and emotional challenges in school, and in all three cases can have a significant economic development impact. The ability for a program to have major impacts on such a broad range of projects and communities speaks to the power of this unique community development tool.