About Backporch
The Back Porch Energy Initiative is a non-profit organization working with communities to cultivate local responses to the national and global issue of energy consumption. The Back Porch team is committed to collaborating with communities on existing resources, leveraging new ideas, and developing practical, economical and environmental solutions.
Spotlight
on your community
Lee Ann Kendrick
Lee Ann Kendrick is the Program Director of the Gulf Coast Conservation Corps (GCCC), an environmental youth development program based in Mississippi. Since the inception of the GCCC, Lee Ann has overseen all GCCC activities including program design, Corpsmember development, and day-to-day operations of the Corps. Lee Ann is known as "Mom," to all the Corpsmembers, going above the call of duty to build a comfortable and welcoming home for all these conservation workers.
With 16 years of experience in youth development, Lee Ann has primarily focused her attention on nonprofit organizations such as Head Start, 4-H and AmeriCorps. Prior to moving home to Mississippi, Lee Ann established an urban 4-H program in Las Vegas, Nevada and also worked with the University of Florida's 4-H program in the panhandle of Florida. Following Hurricane Katrina, Lee Ann worked toward reestablishing Early Head Start services in East Biloxi until she made the move over to the GCCC.
Lee Ann's expertise and driven spirit have offered countless youth so much. That is what Lee Ann is all about. Thank you, Lee Ann.
Tip of the Week!
"Buy food (and drink - ideally tap - water) from local companies whenever possible. Each pound of local food you purchase prevents a quarter pound of global warming (C02) emissions," suggests the Global Stewards website. "If possible, grow your own fruits and vegetables using organic gardening practices.
You can find local farmers markets, community supported agriculture, restaurants that cook with regional cuisine, and food cooperatives through Local Harvest."
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Gulf Coast Conservation Corps, Gulfport, Mississippi
engaging young people in service to their community and their environment
Our good friend David, who lives in Southwest Louisiana, about two hours away from New Orleans, tells a great story of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In his back yard stands an enormous tree, the name of which escapes me as it is a species that grows in a region so foreign to my American experience. The story goes that Hurricane Katrina, with the tailwinds heading one direction, took down Mr. David's deeply rooted tree, only to have it set back upright by Hurricane Rita some weeks later, tailwinds heading in the opposite direction.
Mr. David points out his tree, a magnificent example of the Gulf Coast's specific heritage, which has probably stood as long as Mr. David's Cajun culture has existed in the region. Seemingly, things remain untouched by those tailwinds, but deeper lies a great story of change and appearances.
A little over a hundred miles to the east lies Gulfport, Mississippi, also known as just about Ground Zero for Hurricane Katrina. News coverage three years ago focused on the flooding of New Orleans, a man-made disaster that uprooted more than just trees and destroyed more than just roofing. And its understandable that we didn't hear about destruction throughout the gulf coast, as so many communities were hit so hard 3 long years ago. Gulfport, personally, is one of the most interesting ones that I've come across.
In Gulfport is a community called Turkey Creek. Established six generations ago by emancipated slaves, Turkey Creek is home to a vibrant community intent on preserving its heritage. As the Gulfport/Biloxi Airport started to encroach on Turkey Creek's land and watershed a few years ago, organizers began to take action. As Turkey Creek Community Initiatives (TCCI) was just becoming a vibrant organization, Katrina hit and uprooted yet another unique facet of the Gulf Coast.
TCCI averted its focus for the long months post-Katrina, developing a volunteer camp in Gulfport to provide relief and recovery services to the community. Slowly but surely this camp evolved into what the community could truly benefit from. Today the camp has become the Gulf Coast Conservation Corps, a conservation effort sponsored nationally by The Corps Network.
So far, GCCC has some stunning data. In the second quarter of its organizational existence, GCCC had logged almost 7000 hours of service, filling seven 40-yard dumpsters with debris pulled from the bayou, and constructing nearly 6000 feet of new trail in Gautier, Mississippi, to name a few measurable successes. The debris cleared was uprooted by the Hurricane, but it is far from what most necessary to re-root.
"I used to be a quitter," says one crew member, "but waking up early isn't bad. Everyday I have thought to myself why am I doing this but I am glad I did and was here. I learned that you don't have to be amazing. You get to be amazing after learning to work."
What the GCCC really does is rebuild community -- not existing communities but a sense of involvement, of worth, of importance and confidence, which are truly the foundations of community. The Gulf Coast Conservation Corps employs youth who would be considered "at-risk," but who are really just at a turning point. They are, at once, conserving our environment and our society. They work daily to firmly re-root both our ecosystem and our brothers and sisters.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita did much damage. Like Mr. David's tree, some of the damage is blind to the naked eye, seemingly correcting itself but genuinely damaged on some level. Society seems to have the same mechanisms, superficially readjusting but requiring progressive change to wholly move forward. That is what the GCCC has spent the past year offering the Gulf Coast.
Now the GCCC is in need. Their funding is in danger because of the economic distress of the community in which they work. We are charged with sustaining this funding for the sake of re-rooting the natural environment of the Gulf Coast, but maybe more so for the sake of re-rooting a sense of stability and worth to those that work for and benefit from the work of the GCCC. Click the link for more information about the Gulf Coast Conservation Corps. May we all show exceeding support for the stability of this vibrant organization. (posted by Jon)
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