Two Years After Katrina: A New Organization Unites the People of Moss Point

As you drive through the city of Moss Point, Mississippi, evidence of Hurricane Katrina's destruction is still obvious. Trailers sit beside houses, line a parking lot—and still house City Hall. Piles of debris can be found outside homes as owners continue to rebuild.

But as you make you're way downtown, you'll also see signs of rebirth: The Piggly Wiggly, Moss Point's only supermarket, has finally reopened and a new gift shop has appeared next to Burnham Drugs. All that is left of Thelma Simmons' FEMA trailer are a few muddy tracks—she finally moved back home in February. And if you talk to residents at Big R's, a local eatery, or stop by City Hall, you will notice the palpable sense of community that has infiltrated Moss Point over the past 30 months as people have come together to rebuild after Katrina.

What Katrina showed the people of Moss Point is that they lacked a real, tangible way to get involved in the community as a whole—no formal, organized way, for example, to help guide the rebuilding process that Katrina made so urgent, or to ensure that the city's poorest neighborhoods were included. So ISC worked with Mayor Xavier Bishop, the Board of Aldermen, and other city officials to create a neighborhood advisory committee that evolved to become FOCUS (Focusing Our Community Upon Sustainability), the first and only community-based organization in Moss Point created to involve and unify the community, in August 2006. Since then, ISC has been helping FOCUS grow, providing ongoing coaching and mentoring and helping them obtain funding, acquire new partners, and develop programs.

Brandy Burch, FOCUS' Program Coordinator, and a volunteer Steering Committee want FOCUS to "use the power of communities to build a stronger, more sustainable, and more inclusive Moss Point."

This can take many forms. One of their first projects was to collaborate with ISC, Moss Point officials, and community leaders to conduct a first-ever citywide assessment of what people saw as the most important redevelopment needs for the city. More recently, FOCUS is partnering with Northern Kentucky University (NKU) to launch a year-long service-learning project with Moss Point. On a visit in January, NKU students interviewed and filmed residents extensively and created a documentary that will be released this summer. They also helped Ms. Simmons put the finishing touches on her house so that she can finally move out of her trailer. "I think most people think of [the hurricane] as a totally negative experience—and it was horrible and hard for people," says Sarah Mahle, an NKU student. "But just to see how hard this community has worked together is really inspiring."

With FOCUS's assistance, NKU students returned this spring to evaluate the city's emergency planning, response, and recovery efforts and to get policy recommendations from ordinary citizens on how to handle another emergency. They also helped clean up downtown area alongside Celebrations, a group in Moss Point that decorates the city's downtown each season. The decorations draw tourist from all over the coast, but more importantly have served to provide a sense of normalcy in the city since Katrina struck—such seemingly small details can play a critical role in the revitalization process.

Up next? FOCUS is organizing neighborhood rallies to raise money and awareness and spark more neighborhood action. They are recruiting three AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers to bring their staff to four. ISC will lead a retreat for FOCUS' steering committee and staff in late April to help them plan another successful year of programs that will contribute to a vibrant Moss Point. One such potential project, a Youth Music and Cultural Center, would be modeled on and created with the help of the enthusiastic staff of a similar center in Charlottesville, Virginia. The idea and the potential collaboration grew from a study tour organized by ISC that brought 30 Moss Point leaders to Charlottesville in March 2007. With few extracurricular activities available to young people in Moss Point, FOCUS wants the center to serve as a tool for community-building and give youth an outlet to express themselves and develop their artistic skills.

Long before Katrina struck, Moss Point struggled as the poorest city on the Gulf Coast, and community pride was not easy to come by. But FOCUS, the recovery process, the community effort required to make it happen, and the ongoing support from outside Mississippi is changing all of that. "When we have people come to visit our city, it is always a positive influence," says Otis Hardy, pastor of a local church. "We feel comfortable with people who bring love and compassion. And the folks from NKU came in with love. It meant a lot to us."