 
Gannett Foundation rewards Nonprofits
Gannett Foundation rewards Nonprofits
ClarionLedger.com
As nonprofits face deeper public funding cuts for programs that boost literacy and the arts, improve academic achievement and wage war on diabetes, private grants can fill some of the gaps.
On Wednesday, several nonprofits received an infusion of funds from community grants awarded locally by the Gannett Foundation.
The five Jackson-area organizations taking in a total of $22,000 were among the 510 recipients nationwide that collected $2.5 million from the foundation through its media organizations, including The Clarion-Ledger.
In presenting the grants, Clarion-Ledger President and Publisher Leslie Hurst said the mission of each group is " to serve the greater good."
"The nonprofits represented here do it by launching literacy programs, preparing students for the future, making the world
more beautiful with art, making our communities more livable with well- designed surroundings and helping children manage chronic disease," she said.
"We're here to recognize the good that each of you is doing in our community - and to further it with a grant."
A survey released this month by The Bridgespan Group showed nearly two- thirds of nonprofits across the country expect their government funding to dwindle over the next two to three years.
Among the programs facing the largest anticipated cuts are those that serve the homeless, elderly and other members of the most vulnerable populations.
The grants presented Wednesday were part of the latest round of awards from the Gannett Foundation, which in 2011 presented more than 900 totaling $3.9 million.
Locally, the largest grant - $10,000 - will help fund Imagination Library, a United Way of the Capital Area program that provides 60 free books to children in targeted ZIP codes.
This early education and literacy initiative, part of a nationwide partnership between other United Way groups and country music legend Dolly Parton, has adopted children living in certain areas of Jackson, Pelahatchie and Canton.
Its mission is to make certain children are prepared to start school by age 5, said Monica Daniels, vice president of resource development for United Way of the Capital Area.
The grant "will help get more books to more children," she said.
With its $2,000 award, the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi will advance its We Care 2 program, which furnishes educational materials, along with emergency and testing supplies, to families of children newly diagnosed with diabetes.
"Diabetes is a chronic illness; it's not going away," said Irena McClain, the foundation's associate director.
"It's so important for the families to have materials at home to help them understand what they're dealing with."
A $2,500 grant to the Public Education Forum of Mississippi will help fund Mississippi Scholars, which encourages academic excellence among under- achieving students.
"It's geared to the students who can do well but don't understand why they need to," said Vickie Powell, CEO of the forum.
In 80 participating school districts, the program dispatches community leaders to classrooms to inspire students and explain the relevancy of taking rigorous courses, Powell said.
It's one way to ensure the state has a qualified work force, she said.
A $5,000 grant to the Mississippi Museum of Art will foster Screen on the Green, a program that presents films outdoors to the public for free in the institution's art garden.
The cultural enrichment initiative is also designed to draw more people downtown after peak hours, said Jenny Tate, the museum's director of marketing.
With its $2,500 award, Mississippi Main Street Association will strengthen its work in helping communities revitalize their downtown areas, said Bob Wilson, executive director.
"In this economy, Main Street is probably one of the hottest economic tools in the country," he said.
The grant will allow the organization to expand its efforts to attract more visitors, businesses and employers to Mississippi communities, Wilson said.
Photo: Clarion-Ledger President and Publisher Leslie Hurst (center, in purple) stands with representatives of several metro-area nonprofit organizations that received grants on Wednesday from the Gannett Foundation. / Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger
Water Valley: Taking it to Heart
Water Valley: Taking it to Heart
By the time you read this, the Mississippi Development Authority’s Asset Mapping Team who were here on Tuesday January 10th touring Water Valley will be back in Jackson and working on their report about what they saw here. We have had roughly similar groups like this one coming into town in the past; almost five years ago in July of 2007 a First Impressions group visited. First Impressions is a program started by Mississippi State University where groups of trained, but in this case not professional, observers visit other towns and write a critique of what they see. This First Impressions tour saw much they liked about Water Valley. They loved Turnage Drug Store, liked the way the town fit the valley, and thought Railroad Park was great. They liked the citizens who welcomed them warmly. And so in their report, the First Impressions group had much to praise about Water Valley. But they made a few critical observations, too. They thought the some of the signage in town was “a bit junkie.” Their comment about Duncan Street was “The backsides of the buildings…are a real eyesore.” And they suggested, “The community might consider adding some trees.”
Jessie Gurner, who back in the summer of 2007 was gearing up the WVMSA to officially become a member of Mississippi Main Street, read the First Impressions report carefully. She, like most of us who live here, thought of Duncan Street as the way things just are. But Jessie took the First Impressions critique to heart. She heard of a grant opportunity for small towns by the Appalachian Regional Commission and had the idea that maybe this public–private commercial space that we all use, Duncan Street, could be improved. And so in the fall of 2008 a whole bunch of WVMSA volunteers added signs, cleaned up, painted up, and planted up Duncan Street. The result: it looks better, much better. The effort, called “Better Back Street,” earned for the WVMSA a Mississippi Main Street award for Best Public Improvement Project. But it did not stop there. Fred’s, the major retailer located on Duncan Street, significantly enlarged their building and re-worked the building façade. At the time of the First Impressions visit five of those Main Street buildings that back onto Duncan were vacant. They had zero economic activity in them. Today only one building that touches Duncan Street remains not in use.
The effort on Duncan Street continues. Mechanics Bank recently paved the dirt lot on the corner of Wagner and Duncan, and the large open culvert near that corner has been covered. No kid can fall into it now. And Mechanics also planted trees. Willow oaks. They grow tall and straight and are, perhaps, the best native species to provide that high canopy shade that not only will take the edge off the summer sun but will really make the back street look so much better.
Google “water valley first impression” and the report is the first item that comes up. Even five years later, it is still interesting to see the images and it is worth reading the findings and comments.
As for the coming MDA report, I have seen some of their work for other Mississippi towns, and they tell it like it is. So soon we will read and hear what they have to say about Water Valley. The most important aspect of this report will be the new local economic data that will help current and future Main Street businesses grow and prosper.
By Mickey Howley, Director
Water Valley Main Street
MDA Asset Mapping Team visits growing Woodville
MDA Asset Mapping Team visits growing Woodville
The Mississippi Development Authority's Asset Mapping Resource Team recently visited Woodville at the request of the Woodville/Wilkinson County Main Street Association, Inc.
Team Leader Jack Moody, of MDA's Asset Development office, brought his resource team to Woodville and Wilkinson County for the purpose of photographing, recording, and marking as many businesses and historical sites as possible with geo-positioning coordinates. This record will become a part of a centralized state resource library of information for potential businesses who may want to locate here, in addition to becoming a part of larger tourism plans for additional trails, for example, such as the Blues Trail, a heritage trail which goes throughout Mississippi and beyond.
More importantly, the results of this Asset Mapping Team's findings will be valuable to local business owners and entrepreneurs, and a full report will be presented at a later date to all elected officials and the public at large as a way of giving feedback and summarizing the team members' reports.
Local drivers recruited to drive the Team Members around included Landon Anderson who drove team members to Woodville perimeter businesses and attractions, and Tom Rosenblatt who drove a team to sites in the western portion of the county. The Downtown Woodville team, on foot, was led by Main Street Manager Polly Rosenblatt. Historic sites, restaurants, buildings, businesses, and the courthouse were among those downtown places documented, in addition to Lake Mary, Pond Store, Clark Creek Natural Area, the Extension Office and Health Department, and the new Woodville Hospitality Center.
The Asset Mapping Team's visit, originally scheduled for later in the year, was moved due to weather conditions in North Mississippi. The team moved Woodville to the top of its list and swapped places with Water Valley, for which snow and ice was predicted the night before and safe travel may have been impossible. The sunshine in Woodville proved to be a welcome relief from the snow predicted for their previously scheduled destination in north Mississippi.
By Polly Rosenblatt, Director
Woodville/Wilkinson County Main Street
Public Workshop to seek input from Citizens in Greenwood on Marketing Strategy
PUBLIC WORKSHOP TO SEEK INPUT FROM CITIZENS ON MARKETING STRATEGY
Workshop to be held at the Greenwood Youth Center at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 17
GREENWOOD – The Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation, the Greenwood-Leflore Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Greenwood, the Greenwood Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the City of Greenwood, and Leflore County, are all combining efforts to better market the Greenwood community.
Community Design Solutions of Columbia, S.C., in association with Arnett Muldrow and Associates of Greenville, S.C. have been hired to conduct an economic development marketing strategy workshop at the Greenwood Youth Center at 926 West Henry Street in Greenwood on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 starting at 6 p.m.
The workshop will build upon a strategic effort between the Economic Development Foundation, Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the City, and the County, to develop a collaborative web site that can market Greenwood and its environs to multiple audiences.
The goals for this workshop are to take the previous planning efforts and create a uniform, strategic marketing plan with short, medium and long-term goals; to create graphic design elements compatible with, and for use by, the collaborative web site; to create graphic design material for a professional, consistent, uniform look throughout the partnering organizations; and finally, to convey a consistent message to the target audiences and markets identified by the team during the marketing strategy workshop.
The ultimate goal for the workshop in the Greenwood-Leflore County community is to provide the partner agencies with tangible tools and an ongoing, flexible marketing plan that they can use to guide the continued promotion of the region and stimulate further economic growth.
Randy Wilson, president of Community Design Solutions, will facilitate the workshop with Ben Muldrow, partner and Director of Community Branding for Arnett Muldrow and Associates. Together, Wilson and Muldrow have worked in over 200 communities all across America.
During the course of the Workshop, the design team will create a graphic identity system that includes branding and marketing logos and taglines, marketing pieces (brochures, posters, letterhead, etc.), advertisement pieces (thematic ads, image ideas, etc.), wayfinding or directional sign systems, as well as other graphic design ideas as time allows.
The public is encouraged to attend the kick-off Town Hall-style meeting and give guidance to the design team.
For more information:
Contact: Angela Curry, Executive Director
Economic Development Foundation
Telephone: (662) 453-5321
Email:
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The Reserve Restaurant
The Mississippi Municipal League has selected Laurel for its “Most Livable Community” Award three times in the past decade. |
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