When the Lowndes Community Foundation held a “community conversation” four years ago at the Trotter Center, we were encouraged by what we saw and heard. A diverse cross-section of 200 residents attended and the discussions proved thoughtful. This wasn’t just a meeting where people complained about problems, but a good-faith effort to identify the top issues in our community. Five key issues emerged: poverty, education, crime/addiction, community engagement and leadership vision.
Six months later, a steering committee made up of community leaders broke into five “task forces” to address each of those areas.
Although encouraged, this paper wondered in an editorial whether these efforts could be sustained, noting as essayist G.K. Chesterton long ago observed: “I’ve searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees.”
Monday evening on the Mississippi University for Women campus, LCF held Community Conversation 2.0. Representatives from the CREATE Foundation — an umbrella organization over multiple community foundations — presented data on workforce, population trends and educational attainment. Additionally, each local task force provided an update on their work over the past four years.
We are encouraged by what we heard. It would be foolish to suggest that our community has turned the tide on any of these five areas, but tangible efforts have been made in at least four of the five focus areas:
- Education — Ninety two percent of brain development happens between birth and age 5; this task force has been working to make us a certified Excel by 5 community, which demonstrates commitment to early childhood education.
- Crime/addiction — Convenience store drugs such as kratom are being cracked down on across the state as a result of this task force.
- Community engagement — Spearheaded by John Almond, the Dream Center leverages volunteers to address a range of community needs.
- Poverty — The Golden Triangle Regional Homeless Coalition is preparing to break ground on a small house development, which will feature 12 150-square-foot homes which struggling small families will be able to use for up to a year at a time during times of need.
The fifth task force — Leadership Vision — oversaw the drafting of a “Vision 2040” list of goals for the community to achieve by 2040, though copies of that document were not made available Monday night.
What is clear is that the Lowndes County Foundation’s efforts continue, even if the complex problems facing our community persist.
As former LCF chair Matt Bogue noted four years ago, it was never going to be a quick fix, but a steady progression toward these goals.
“Maybe, in 10 years, we’ll look back and say ‘Man, can you believe where we were back then?’” Bogue said at the time.
Four years in, it appears multiple sustained efforts have emerged. If you want to join the effort, we encourage you to get in touch with Lowndes Community Foundation director Jan Eastman at (504) 858-5927.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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