Turning Crisis to Opportunity

Six weeks after Xavier Bishop was elected to his first term as mayor of Moss Point, Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the gulf Coast. He watched from his office at City Hall as floodwater swirled into the downtown district. When it started to swarm his desk in the midst of the storm, he found a way to push through the front door despite the pressing water and headed for higher ground.

In the days that followed, the full impact of the storm became starkly clear. Homes, businesses and neighborhoods were destroyed and the entire downtown area was washed out in the storm. As the poorest town on the Gulf Coast, and already struggling from the consequences of losing major industries in the last few years, the city had lost significant jobs and revenue before the storm. Its too poorest neighborhoods, Kreole and Escatawpa, were also the most damaged by Katrina.

Since Katrina, however, many community members have realized that the disaster has afforded Moss Point an opportunity to emerge stronger than it was before the storm. One called an "industrial city", Moss Point residents are now looking to reinvent themselves as a "World Class River City" that invites tourists in to experience its breathtaking wetlands, that centers around a vibrant downtown, that engages all of its residents in making decisions affecting community life.

The immediate outpouring of assistance after the hurricane helped many residents begin to put their lives back together. However, unlike the larger cities on the coast, local leaders had little access to ongoing outside help to deal with the huge challenge of rebuilding the community, channeling public and private funds to where they would do the most good, engaging citizens in shaping rebuilding efforts, and addressing the long-term problems magnified by the disaster.

With this in mind, ISC offered to help elected officials, local nonprofits, and community leaders get the tools and skills they need to manage the massive rebuilding process and transform their city into a sustainable, thriving community. As the city rebuilds from the storm—an estimated ten to twelve year project—Mayor Bishop says his life has become like the movie Groundhog Day. "It just seems to be one continuous effort to recover from the storm, and that process gets repeated day after day."

ISC is helping expand the community's capacity to take on this challenge-to build a stronger, more sustainable, and inclusive Moss Point. Here are some examples of how we have helped so far:

• To truly engage all community members in the rebuilding process-even those who historically have not been involved in public life-we helped form a neighborhood advisory group of representatives from each of the city's six wards. This group has now formed a nonprofit, FOCUS, which is now becoming registered and has just received its first grant.
• We trained community volunteers to conduct a neighborhood survey that asked residents about their hopes and concerns for the redevelopment process and the future of Moss Point.
• We are working with the city's only nonprofit focused on community work, the Institute for Compatible Development, to help them become a stronger advocacy and resource organization for the community.
• We helped city officials develop the first-ever vision statement for the city, and now are working with city staff and elected officials to implement the vision.
• We have provided high quality mentoring and training to community leaders on a wide range of issues.
• We brought 30 community leaders on a study tour to Charlottesville, Virginia, to see first-hand how that city has creatively and sustainably addressed critical issues, often in the city's poorest neighborhoods. For the participants, the trip was a dramatic, tangible demonstration of the importance of working in cross-sectoral partnerships, the need for unity and support even while working out differences, and the need for a cultural shift in Moss Point from one of defeat and apathy to one of possibility.

ISC's work in Moss Point was launched with donations from ordinary people who wanted to reach out to this small town. Your support will help us continue to provide critical training and mentoring to this city as they continue to grapple with the monumental rebuilding process.