Site #6: Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson was the penultimate stop on the road trip portion of our Circles tour.  The capital of Mississippi was by far the largest city we have visited, with over 500,000 people living in the metro area.  While most sites have been in smaller cities or rural counties, Jackson had a true urban feel to it.  The further one travels from a busy, bustling downtown, the more prevalent the rent-to-own retailers and check-cashing predatory lenders become.  “Juice stores” mark the lower-income areas, where cigarettes and liquor can be bought on tab and taken out of the paycheck which is cashed on site.  Many businesses are surrounded by barbed wire fences.  The better paying jobs are located in the suburbs beyond the reach of public transportation and therefore inaccessible to city residents without reliable vehicles.

It is in this environment that Voice of Calvary Ministries took root in 1975.  VOCM has been dedicated to rebuilding the community by rebuilding the lives of its individuals.  Because of their commitment to community development and a refusal to provide services that simply treat symptoms of poverty, VOCM adopted the Circles initiative in 2010.  They are preparing to graduate their second Getting Ahead class at the end of May.  Cynthia Hobbs, the Circles Coordinator at Voice of Calvary, believes the most difficult challenge ahead of their community is changing the mindset regarding poverty.  Among many families in Mississippi, poverty extends all the way back to slavery.  This reality creates an enormous gulf between those who live outside of poverty and those who have never known anything else.  Additionally, Jackson deals with the separation existing from racial tensions not uncommon in southern cities.

Despite these obstacles, Hobbs believes that her Circle Leaders have the ability to reach their goals and move out of poverty.  Circles has connected them with allies who are bankers, nurses, professors, and social service providers respectively.  Because of Voice of Calvary Ministries’ long-standing partnerships in the community, Circle Leaders have access to resources that were previously unknown to them.  Although the initiative is fairly young, the staff is encouraged with what they are seeing and hoping the evidence from their initiative will help change the mindset of a struggling city.