We are off the beach and into the swamp! The Faces of Circles Tour has moved along to Baldwin, Louisiana in St. Mary’s Parish. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has a depot in Baldwin that ships health kits to places affected by disaster or extreme poverty all over the world. Since the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the UMCOR Sager Brown Campus has been working in Southern Louisiana to alleviate poverty. A small compound on the bayou houses volunteers from all over the country that come to package relief kits internationally and offer a hand locally.
The task is enormous in St. Mary’s Parish. In the various towns making up the community the poverty rate starts at 23%. 30% of Charenton residents, which is home to a Native American Reservation, live below the poverty line. Trailer parks surround the sugar cane fields and casinos, which are a major source of low-wage employment. Those who do well own the cane fields, work on off-shore oil rigs, or teach. But teaching jobs are limited, drilling work keeps men out of the community, and those who own the cane fields have a vested interest in keeping better jobs out of the parish, which would force them to raise their pay to the field workers. Those who do find work in the fields are only seasonally employed. When a new grocer opened in the community, there were 400 applicants for 28 positions.
In light of all of this, UMCOR decided relief from poverty was not enough and took on the Circles model last fall. Still a fledgling campaign, they will graduate their first class of Getting Ahead members at the end of this month. Richard LeGrier, the Louisiana Circles Coordinator, has been working in the community to find support for his soon-to-be-graduates. Tuesday evening he hosted a promotional meeting for the initiative which the mayors of Baldwin and neighboring Franklin attended. As Circles looks to gain traction in the swamp, there is a community that is optimistic it can provide some real change.
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