The setting for VISIONS Mississippi is best captured in this press release of the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights:

North Gulfport and Turkey Creek are communities rooted in African American history. Settled by a group of recently 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.

In the early 1900s, North Gulfport and Turkey Creek also served as refuges for African Americans who were banned from Gulfport's local beaches. At the time that Katrina struck, North Gulfport and Turkey Creek were the sites of numerous historic homes and minority businesses. Residents had been working hard to obtain historic preservation status and build affordable housing. Now, the communities are fighting to survive.

Service - Since 2006 and initially in response to Hurricane Katrina, VISIONS has accomplished impressive service and sophisticated carpentry in Mississippi. This includes construction of green-certified outdoor classroom, fishing decks and even a bridge over a Turkey Creek tributary. Teen volunteers have built wildlife observation decks and walkways, designed and constructed large garden beds, planted trees and made renovations to homes damaged during Katrina.

Partnerships in Mississippi run deep and have been the glue and the soul of our program. We spend work and play time with friends at the North Gulfport Land Trust, Audubon Society, Youth Council, and Turkey Creek Community Initiatives. 

Culture - It's never all work in Mississippi. A spontaneous invitation to Flower's family reunion, complete with his famous fried catfish. Mark LaSalle's irresistible Cajun hospitality and keen Audubon wisdom and a Moss Point barbeque with live music and tall Southern tales. Rose Johnson's fearless and determined advocacy for her home neighborhoods.

We hear Derrick Evans' compelling accounts of Turkey Creek's strategic historic place as a major watershed wetland. [In October 2006 Robert Kennedy Jr., stood in the outdoor classroom that VISIONS built three months earlier and named Derrick Mississippi's first Waterkeeper as part of The Waterkeeper Alliance, a national advocacy group dedicated to preserving and protecting community waters.]

Adventure - You'll fish on the bayou, take a flatboat spin to try crabbing, spend a long day and evening in New Orleans, explore Shipp and Dauphin Islands, and the lush coastal backwoods by canoe. We even attend a pow wow and Indian Days at the Chocktaw reservation, just a couple hours from our homebase. Our afternoons after work and our weekends are jam-packed, lively and complete with genuine friendships and a real sense of place in Mississippi.

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