Visions Mississippi

  United States

Mississippi

Duration of Program: 2-4 weeks
Dates: June 30 - July 27

Description: VISIONS Mississippi participants will live and work in coastal Mississippi neighborhoods described in a September 2005 press release of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: "North Gulfport and Turkey Creek are communities rooted in African American history. Purchased and settled by a group of emancipated African Americans in 1866, the few acres of land later known as Turkey Creek was a vibrant, self-sufficient neighborhood, replete with farms, homesteads and the first African American school in the Gulfport region. At the time that Katrina struck, North Gulfport and Turkey Creek were the sites of numerous historic homes and minority businesses. Community groups and residents have been working hard to obtain historic preservation status and build affordable housing. Now, the communities are fighting to survive."

It will take years for the Gulf Coast to recover from Hurricane Katrina's unprecedented devastation, but well before Katrina, Turkey Creek and North Gulfport experienced "Uneven patterns of municipal service, encroaching commercial development and increased flooding." (Trisha Miller, "Crossing Muddy Waters.")

Working with Turkey Creek Community Initiatives (TCCI) and Audubon Mississippi, VISIONS participants have built a 50-foot arched wooden bridge over a Turkey Creek tributary, easing access to community green space and bringing renewed attention to a neglected waterway. We have painted inspirational murals on all the walls of the student activity room in the North Gulfport Good Deeds Community Center, and constructed a 600-square-foot outdoor environmental classroom. We have also distributed flyers with information from the North Gulfport Community Land Trust about legal rights and financial aid, and assisted other Katrina relief groups by handing out food and supplies and removing debris in Biloxi and other neighborhoods. Looking forward, our participation in Turkey Creek promises to provide ongoing robust project needs.

VISIONS Mississippi is your opportunity to do service work in a historically rich area of the United States, still in recovery from Katrina, whose residents you'll find hard to resist and easy to love.

Highlights: Of course, it won't all be work in Mississippi. Some of the excursions include fishing on the bayou, taking a flatboat spin to try your hand at crabbing, spending a long day and evening in New Orleans, ferrying to Shipp Island, and exploring lush backwoods by canoe and more.

Cost in US$: 4,200

This Program is open to American, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi and South African Participants.

Participants Travel to United States Independently Or in Groups

Typically Participants Work in Groups

Application Process Involves:

• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network

Visions Service Adventures's Mission Statement: VISIONS offers teenagers opportunities for ambitious service work and cross-cultural immersion in the United States and abroad. We work with and for intercultural communities that lack financial and other development resources. Through service, authentic experience, and active exploration, we encourage new perspectives and dynamic learning.

Year Founded: 1989