The Poarch Band of Creek Indians jumped on board Wednesday with perhaps an unconventional definition of “infrastructure” in Huntsville.

“I often, and I mean often, tell (Mayor) Tommy Battle that healthcare is infrastructure,” said Mary Elizabeth Marr, CEO of Thrive Alabama – which provides healthcare services to underserved people. “It is just as important as roads, as sidewalks as music venues. Of all the things that we do in Huntsville, health care is a huge part of the infrastructure of our city. And right now, we’re not living up to the needs of our health care of Huntsville.”

To that end, Thrive is raising money to build a 72,000 square foot facility on Oakwood Avenue near downtown that will offer health care services for all ages – babies to the elderly, Marr said.

And to help make it happen, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians donated $1 million to the project in a ceremony at the Thrive site. The only federally recognized Indian tribe in Alabama with its headquarters in Atmore, the tribe is also a member of the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce and is building its presence in the Rocket City — operating a “variety of economic enterprises” in the Huntsville area, according to the chamber.

Last year, the tribe purchased Fortis Industries – a Huntsville defense contractor. And earlier this year, the tribe was selected by NASA to manage communications for the entire agency in a $217 million contract.

Stephanie Bryan, Poarch’s chair and CEO, presented the check to Marr at Wednesday’s event.

“As we have developed a footprint here in Huntsville and the need for health care and meeting with Miss Mary Elizabeth and the passion that she really had for Thrive and what they were doing, it brought back memories for me growing up and not having those resources for quality health care,” Bryan said. “And so as a leader, it’s my passion to help fill those voids and help organizations like Thrive that help those who are underserved. And so the passion that Mary Elizabeth has for this project and the passion that I have personally to provide quality health care to communities, it’s so important for people to have a better quality of life.”

Thrive is aiming to consolidate its services in one location that are currently spread across five clinics – including one in Albertville and Florence alongside the three in Huntsville.

The new facility, Marr said, has a price tag of about $33 million and Thrive has so far raised about $3 million. Marr said she hopes construction can begin once about $8-10 million has been raised and she is in talks with local and state government officials in seeking funding.

Thrive’s capital campaign launched with unfortunate timing – in the weeks before the COVID pandemic hit in 2020. Wednesday’s announcement was a sort of reboot of the campaign, Marr said.

“We are going to expand our services (in the new facility),” Marr said. “We will take care of babies all the way up to the elderly. We will have vision, dental. We will have behavioral health, which is mental health and substance abuse. And it will have a community room that we can have people meet in as well as a pharmacy and a lab. And it’ll be a one stop shop, especially for the underserved population of Huntsville.”

More information about Thrive’s capital campaign is available on its website.