Downtown Clarksdale Mississippi, Aug. 2010
I just returned from a site visit to meet with colleagues in Clarksdale, Mississippi. ChangeMatters is working with our Tucson-based colleagues, DRA to support growth in an organization serving migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the Delta and throughout the state.
We learned a powerful lot about the environment and culture in which these Delta leaders are working. We pretty much fell in professional love with them. And I got a glimpse of how much I don’t know and understand about the rural American South.
For 40 years and extending from deep roots in the civil rights movement, Mississippi Delta Council has worked to create more stability for people in poverty by connecting them to jobs, education, housing, and social supports.
Now that we’re back home reflecting on our experience, me in the DC-Baltimore area and my colleagues in Tucson, we’ve already started to identify strategic opportunities for expanded funding and new relationships that can build upon their assets. We are looking forward to providing strategic support to these leaders who have been their neighbors’ supporters, suggesting fresh ideas for program planning and social enterprise, maybe naming some tough challenges, and ultimately making it a bit easier for them to strengthen and expand their important work.
