CWC Biloxi

Turkey Creek-North Gulfport Schools Reunion

STEPS - For Communities Worth Coming Home To
Since June `06 TCCI has been an enthusiastic member or ‘affiliated ally' of the STEPS coalition-a fast growing alliance of agencies, groups and organizations, committed to healthy, just and sustainable renewal of all South Mississippi's families and community resources.

WaterKeeper
In addition to serving as executive director of TCCI, Derrick Evans has established and heads Turkey Creek Keeper, TCCI's environmental justice program and the only WaterKeeper program in the state of Mississippi.

Environmental Justice for All - TOUR'06
This fall, Environmental Justice and health groups from all over the country are hosting a national tour of communities directly impacted by unfair industrial contamination problems.

Virginia Tech
Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society of Virginia Tech, initiated “Virginia Tech Cares” in the aftermath of the storm, working in Gulfport to gut and rebuild housing. They have maintained a presence since that time, now helping to coordinate other volunteers. During the recent spring break, VT Cares partnered with TCCI and Harrison County Supervisor William Martin to establish a camp to house volunteers in the rebuilding effort.

William Winter Institute for Racial Reconcitiation
Since January `06 the Winter Institute ha supported the efforts of TTCI and the STEPS Coalition to bring just and sustainable renewal to our most vulnerable people and communities.

Enterprise Corporation of the Delta
ECD is a not-for-profit organization that provides lending and technical assistance to Delta businesses and entrepreneurs through seven regional offices. Targeting small to medium-sized businesses including those owned by minorities and women, ECD has a track record that speaks for itself. In particular, ECD oversees the Hope Community Credit Union.

Mississippi Chapter of NAACP
The NAACP is the nation's most significant civil rights organization. From the ballot box to the classroom, the dedicated workers, organizers, and leaders who forged this great organization and maintain its status as a champion of social justice, fought long and hard to ensure that the voices of African Americans would be heard.

Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
The Committee's major objective is to use the skills and resources of the bar to obtain equal opportunity for minorities by addressing factors that contribute to racial justice and economic opportunity. Given our nation's history of racial discrimination, de jure segregation, and the de facto inequities that persist, the Lawyers' Committee's primary focus is to represent the interest of African Americans in particular, other racial and ethnic minorities, and other victims of discrimination, where doing so can help to secure justice for all racial and ethnic minorities. The Lawyers' Committee implements its mission and objectives by marshaling the pro bono resources of the bar for litigation, public policy advocacy, and other forms of service by lawyers to the cause of civil rights.

Mississippi United Methodist Conference
Mississippi United Methodist Katrina Response An UMCOR Partner Organization

UMC seeks to be a living expression of God's love by alleviating the suffering of those impacted by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast and throughout the state of Mississippi. Their goals include restoring persons to safe, permanent homes as soon as possible, to be attentive to and, where possible, address spiritual, emotional, and other needs of these persons, to affirm, encourage, and offer support to local churches in the recovery effort, to organize and deploy volunteers to maximize recovery to extend beyond what congregations can accomplish on their own, to partner with other organizations where possible to enhance efforts and to tell the story - keep people abreast of the amazing work being done by local churches and United Methodist volunteers.

Moore, Iacofano and Goltsman, Inc. (MIG)
Great places are attractive and rich physical settings for human interaction. MIG's creative planning and design generates innovative solutions for neighborhood and community revitalization, creating a “sense of place” that helps make experiences memorable, functional and attractive to users. Our projects respond to the regulatory environment, regional and local climactic conditions, the ecological niche of the area, and the cultures and history of place. MIG provides the framework for well-designed places with pedestrian-scaled streets, thoughtful building form and scale, and great public places that respect historic traditions, environmental qualities and other unique aspects of the particular setting.

Sierra Club Mississippi
Since 2001, the Sierra Club has stood with residents of the North Gulfport, Forrest Heights, and Turkey Creek neighborhoods to fight for environmental justice in our watershed - successfully challenging the destruction of hundreds of acres of wetlands.

Audubon MS - Coastal Projects
Mississippi Audubon's Coastal Projects Program has worked with community members on educational activites for youth in our watershed - a unique and critical habitat for many migratory bird species.

Mississippi Urban Forest Council
Community children and volunteers established the "Turkey Creek Native Plant Nursery" in February 2004 with 300 saplings - black gum, cypress, and long-leaf pine - donated by the MS Urban Forest Council.

Mississippi Heritage Trust
Dedicated to highlighting and preserving our state's historic cultural resources, the Mississippi Heritage Trust sparked significant public awareness when it listed the entire Turkey Creek Community as one of Mississippi's "Ten Most Endangered Historic Places" in 2001.

Land Trust for the MS Coastal Plain
Conserving coastal Mississippi's diverse and diminishing landscapes, the Land Trust for the MS Coastal Plain has assisted TCCI and other partners in promoting a Turkey Creek watershed greenway.

National Trust for Historic Preservation
Our nation's leading advocate of historic preservation, representatives of the National Trust have visited Turkey Creek several times since Katrina struck. NTHP president Richard Moe and TCCI director Derrick Evans both testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census on November 1, 2005. Soon thereafter, the Trust provided $10,000 for emergency shoring of historical structures to the Turkey Creek Homeowners Association.

Mississippi Center for Justice
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Center for Justice has worked with TCCI and other coastal Mississippi community groups to link housing recovery and justice with heritage documentation. Dozens of volunteer law students, under the guidance of MCJ attorney Reilly Morse, have walked neighborhood streets in search of hidden gems of coastal heritage and housing resources.

MS Department of Environmental Quality
The mission of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of present and future generations of Mississippians by conserving and improving our environment and fostering wise economic growth through focused research and responsible regulation.