encouraging vibrant communities in Clarksdale, Mississippi
Our family traveled to Clarksdale, Mississippi over spring break to volunteer for the Clarksdale Area Fuller Center, The Care Station, and I was also able to partner with Spring Initiative. We have dear friends from our college days that live and work in the Mississippi Delta and were grateful to have the opportunity to partner and support the good work in housing and education in Clarksdale. More about volunteering as a family on my personal blog.
Bill Sutton; Affiliate Coordinator shared more about the Fuller Center “Seeking to put God’s love into action, Clarksdale Area Fuller Center for Housing (formerly Clarksdale Area Habitat for Humanity) brings people together across generational, geographic, racial, and social class boundaries to partner with qualified, low-income residents of the Mississippi Delta in building affordable homes, encouraging vibrant communities and bringing transformational hope to the entire community and beyond.“
The organization commenting on building housing equity as aspect of alleviating poverty:
“It seems to me that housing ministry work strikes directly at two complementary aspects of poverty and its related issues, especially as it has evolved in the history of sharecropping in the Delta (whose legacy continues to be the driving force behind our current problems). On the one hand, partnering with the de-privileged to provide homeownership is a direct way for the working poor to develop the kind of financial independence they have been purposefully denied for so long. If the program works the way it should, at the end of the long payment process, a family will not only have enjoyed the benefits of a decent home for a couple of decades, but a formerly poor family will also have financial resources to pass down to the next generation. Because poverty in the Delta is to some extent the product of exploitative choices and structures created by unrighteousness, this is truly a way of “doing justice” in the manner called for by Micah 6:8 and many other relevant biblical teachings.”
You can donate to this good work in the Mississippi Delta here.
Our family helped with some clean up of a lot and ongoing renovation work at an old theater in the downtown area. We also enjoyed coffee breaks everyday at Meraki Roasting Coffee Shop, “coffee with a soul, youth with a future.”
The Care Station seeks to “to provide nourishment for the physical and spiritual needs of our community.”
I was invited to create some portraits of some amazing people connected to the Fuller Center for Housing and it was a joy. Learn more about the organization here.
Mrs. Thelma
Mrs. Thelma and her grandchildren
“These striking images capture the resilience and energy of local residents and outside volunteers working together and collaborating in love with local non-profits Spring Initiative, Griot Arts Program, and Clarksdale Area Fuller Center for Housing” -Bill Sutton.
We also stopped in Memphis on our way back to Chicagoland to visit the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. This museum was built around the hotel where Dr. Martin Luther King spent his last night before he was murdered. His legacy and the continuing fight for Civil Rights is something every American needs to reflect on and this visit was important for our family.
[…] You can see more of the images I created in partnership with Spring Initiative and Clarksdale Fuller Center for Housing on Hawa Images. […]