By: John A. Brimley and Sharon Watson

Mississippi County Arkansas is one of 15 communities across the country the American Red Cross has identified as an area that has been hit repeatedly with disasters such as tornadoes and floods, and where access to food, health care and housing assistance is limited based on the need, especially following disasters. To help, Red Cross is teaming up with organizations in Mississippi County to provide grants to help organizations build capacity and resources through the Community Adaptation Program.

This Red Cross program, through these partnerships aims to help provide increased access to health and mental health services, nutritious food and safe housing for local families who are underserved and at risk from the worsening climate crisis.  

The first local red Cross partnership of the Community Adaptation Program in Mississippi County is with The Help Center, a food pantry located at First Baptist Church Frenchman’s Bayou in northeast Arkansas. The center distributed food for more than 200 people during their monthly food distribution in July 2023. This distribution takes place every second Friday of the month.

“You could not find any people better to work with than Matthew (Henry), Pam (Knapp-Carver) and Venna (Oldsen). They’ve been so helpful. It’s like having a fairy godmother and fairy godfather because I tell them things that I need, that I want,” said Roshell Coleman, retired educator and principal, who started The Help Center. “They’re helping us to do work that we already wanted to do in the first place.”

The food pantry, which began in 2021, has grown from feeding 50 people monthly to now feeding more than 200 with the help of the Red Cross.

“In that short time, we’ve been able to help with some resources, and that’s a first step in expanding their capability and capacity to reach more people with food in southern Mississippi County,” Matt Henry, Community Disaster Risk Reduction Manager, said. “With the help Red Cross has been able to provide The Help Center, they’re going to be able to expand the number of people who have access to healthy foods and seeing that in action makes all of the long hours’ worth it.”

Through a grant, Red Cross recently provided a box truck to The Help Center to ensure the organization can expand its offerings to the community with deliveries.  Additional partnerships are being identified for assistance in Mississippi County to help increase local organizations’ ability to respond and recover from future disasters. 

For more information on the Community Adaptation Program, see: https://maps.rcview.redcross.org/portal/apps/Cascade/index.html appid=8c0764a1f2b04fce97015754f6bf4c17