Brooke Lee has only lived in Selma for a year and a half, but she has already found her place in the community.

“The community, the people here, that’s what makes this city. It’s not whether you have Target or these name brand places.

Lee, 25 years old and originally from Dothan, moved to Selma in January 2016 after marrying her husband Zac. She went to school at Auburn University, where the two met. She works at Elkdale Baptist Church on Highland Avenue as pastor Cory Horton’s assistant.

“Coming to Selma and not knowing a lot of people here, this has been a great opportunity to meet people,” she said.

At Elkdale, Lee assists Horton and other ministers, does finance work and also helps out with people in need that come to the church seeking assistance.

“I work a lot with the Dallas County Resource Center and the Edmundites on the phone and seeing how we can help. Elkdale is blessed with a budget where we can help our community, so I get to do that and meet those people,” she said.

While Lee works at Elkdale, she goes to church at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, where she helps out with the children and youth ministries. Lee doesn’t have any children of her own yet, but she has a huge heart and passion for them.

“I love working with children in youth age, and I guess that kind of comes from what I used to do,” she said. “So just being involved and seeing kids running here and stuff like that. It’s just something I’m passionate about and have a heart for.”

Lee volunteers for Safe Harbor, where she helps promote adoption. She also helps with the Bloom Project, which helps with foster children and families.

“I’m passionate about adoption and what that means and how that kind of reflects what Christ did for us in adoption,” she said. “It’s something that when I came here it was not talked about a whole lot, and I’ve met a few people who are very much involved.”

Adoption is something Lee said she one day hopes to do.

“We want to adopt one day. We’ve already talked about it [and] it’s going to happen at some point. That’s up to the Lord when that will happen,” she said.

Lee said she hopes to see the community continue to come together.

“That’s something I’ve seen happen, and I’m thankful for it being new and coming to town,” she said. “People have swarmed me and made me feel at home, and I think that’s something we can continue to do.”