East Jerusalem (Hattiesburg)

We are a small urban community with a population of about 2,500. Hattiesburg has a strong foundation of faith-based organizations that provide leadership in the community. Other strong community leaders have emerged in our low income housing communities. The majority of our residents live below the poverty line, and face certain challenges related to the lack of economic development. Our Communities for All Ages team has brought together residents of different age groups as well as community leaders and staff from local organizations and faith based groups to begin a community building process. This process will draw on the existing community leadership and identify strategies for creating new opportunities, resources and supports for our residents.

Our group is in an early phase development: building our team, assessing our community’s strengths/challenges and planning for community change efforts. We have held focus groups with community residents of different ages around issues of health and well-being in East Hattiesburg. We are currently identifying new strategies to connect with residents, deepen our assessment, and build a strong, well-networked and viable core team to support our work.