Oxmoor Valley's Huffman seeks Alabama House District 56

Tereshia Huffman was raised by a single mom and moved around a lot as a child, attending five elementary schools.

She spent time in a failing school system and an excellent school system and saw the differences, and now she’s running for the state Legislature in an effort to help level the playing field and ensure all children have a chance at an equitable education, she said.

Huffman is running as a Democrat for Alabama House District 56, which includes Ross Bridge and part of the Lake Cyrus community in Hoover, as well as most of Bessemer, Brighton, Lipscomb and the Oxmoor Valley and Shannon communities. Huffman lives in the Oxmoor Valley community.

House District 56 currently is represented by Louise Alexander, who has announced she is giving up her seat in the House to run for Alabama Senate District 19.

Huffman attended Ramsay High School in Birmingham for two years but graduated from Pinson Valley High School in the Jefferson County school system in 2003. She then graduated from the University of Alabama in 2008, majoring in English and public relations.

Her first job was as a community organizer for former state Rep. Earl Hilliard, who represented Alabama House District 60.

After two years in that role, she moved to Georgia and spent about 4½ years working in the office of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. She spent most of her time in the human resources department but also was manager of a streetcar project and worked on projects dealing with time saving and information technology.

Huffman also worked in the mayor’s office of human services, where she secured funding to provide more than 350,000 meals to underserved children during the summer and co-led a summer program for a mobile feeding bus.

In 2016, Huffman went to work in the office of DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, where she led projects on water infrastructure and blight removal and started an urban garden food project. She also worked in a child advocacy center that represented neglected and abused children in state custody.

In 2019, Huffman moved back to Birmingham. She worked about a year for REV Birmingham, a revitalization and economic development nonprofit, helping with business startups. Then she spent eight or nine months with the KHA (Keecha Harris and Associates) consulting firm, working with nonprofits on racial and ethnic equity in environmental and climate issues.

Huffman then spent about six months as a field organizer for Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin’s 2021 re-election campaign and in October joined the Birmingham Promise nonprofit as a student outreach coordinator.

Huffman said she decided to run for House District 56 because she sees it as another way to improve the quality of life of everyday people. That has been the focus of every job she has had, she said. She wants to make sure all people have the resources and opportunities they need to succeed, she said.

If elected, one of her priorities would be to expand mental health resources in the state, particularly in schools and law enforcement agencies, she said.

Expanding educational opportunities also is a priority, including expanding trade and vocational education to middle schools and increasing funding for special education and pre-kindergarten programs, she said.

Huffman also wants to focus on economic development, making sure House District 56 gets its fair share of money for improving roads, sidewalks, sewer and stormwater pipes, bike trails and access to healthy food options, she said.

She wants to eliminate food deserts and make sure everyone has access to a grocery store, she said. Not everyone has a vehicle, so people need to have a grocery store within walking distance, she said.

Huffman, who is 37 and single, is a member of The Worship Center church in Bessemer and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. In December 2020, she was appointed to the Birmingham Water Works Board, where she now serves as assistant secretary, treasurer, chairwoman of the communications committee and as a member of the human resources committee.

The Alabama primary election is May 24. For more information about Huffman, go to tereshiahuffman.com.