"We are heartened that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have moved so quickly and assertively to put in place a point person within the administration to lead the way in international climate negotiations. The appointment of the highly experienced Todd Stern demonstrates the seriousness with which the administration takes the climate challenge.
"In the face of a growing climate crisis, we have no time to waste in engaging in climate negotiations at the United Nations and reaching an urgently needed global deal this year.
"As Special Envoy Stern noted, the US can demonstrate leadership in the negotiations by significantly reducing emissions, while also working with developing countries to help them adapt to the serious climate impacts they face today and to pursue low-carbon energy pathways.
"We look forward to working with the Special Envoy to demonstrate this new American leadership, and working with the entire international community, including the most vulnerable countries affected by global warming."
]]>Oxfam America congratulates you on your inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. This historic moment provides an occasion to reestablish the role of the US as a global leader in fighting poverty and social injustice. And we believe you will make the most of this opportunity.
We ask that you take decisive and early action to shape how we engage in the international community. At a time when the US economy is in trouble and Americans are understandably concerned about their own economic well-being, we must not forget the needs of vulnerable populations around the world. If the US leads in the fight against global poverty, we can create positive long-term change that will result in a more just, prosperous, and secure world for all.
As your administration moves forward, you face an excellent opportunity to restructure US Foreign Assistance. Our current aid system is broken, which undermines American leadership and standing in the world. We ask that you work with foreign policy leaders in Congress to fix US foreign aid—a move that will fight poverty more effectively with no additional cost to taxpayers.
We encourage you to take bold action on climate change. The world?s poorest people—who are least responsible for climate change—are often the hardest hit by its consequences. Climate change is likely to increase economic and social instability, migration and refugee crises, and conflict over natural resources, and is quickly becoming a major driver of poverty and instability around the world. It is essential that your administration re-engage in international negotiations for a post-2012 agreement that includes significant cuts in emissions and additional funds to assist developing countries adapt to climate change. World leaders cannot create the next international climate agreement without US leadership. We also urge you to help bring about strong US legislation that not only dramatically cuts US emissions, but also provides significant assistance to poor and vulnerable communities.
Internationally, numerous conflicts continue to ravage civilian populations. We ask that you serve as a leader in prioritizing the protection of civilians in foreign assistance programs and cooperating with allies to remove obstacles to peace and stability. Yours is a unique opportunity: to build a 21st-century State Department by doubling the number of core diplomatic personnel and moving more personnel to potential and ongoing conflict zones. We know that we can rely on you to work closely with Secretary of State Clinton to achieve this vision.
In the US, we encourage you to turn your attention to the failed recovery of the Gulf Coast following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The inadequate US response to the desperate calls of her own citizens must not continue. Your administration can restore faith in government by helping to provide quality jobs and affordable housing for the low- and moderate-income families still unable to return to their former lives.
We look forward to working with you and members of your administration. We firmly believe that your leadership can help to improve the plight of millions of people who suffer from hunger, injustice, and violence around the world.
Sincerely,
Raymond C. Offenheiser
President, Oxfam America
2008 was an especially grim year in Zimbabwe—and prospects for the coming year seem little better. The fact that Zimbabweans were celebrating the new year at all might seem surprising. But many people, or at least those with some money living in the cities, were in the mood to party, if only for a night and to forget their worries.
Zimbabwe is gripped by economic collapse. Hyperinflation, the worst in the world, has seen prices skyrocketing, making it hard for many to access food and fuel. Last month, the country's central bank introduced a 10 billion Zimbabwean dollar banknote, but its actual worth, about $10 US dollars on the black market, is rapidly decreasing day by day. Most shops now only accept foreign currency not Zimbabwean notes.
On top of the economic meltdown, which has seen doctors, teachers, and most government staffers staying away from work because their pay in local Zimbabwean dollars won't even cover their crippling transport costs, there is a serious and worsening humanitarian crisis.
A cholera outbreak in August has now affected more than 30,000 people, and claimed the lives of more than 1,600 people, with cases now being reported across every province in the country.
Cholera is an easily preventable and treatable waterborne disease. But its spread in Zimbabwe is being fuelled by the collapse of health, sanitation, and water services. There are limited medical supplies and many don't have access to clean drinking water or proper sanitation. The onset of heavy rains this month is worsening an already alarming situation.
A second humanitarian crisis, still under-reported, is the worsening malnutrition and food shortages. There have been several years of failed harvests; a serious shortage of seeds and fertilizers; and driving hunger is forcing many to eat seeds instead of planting them for next year's crops.
The UN has warned that around five million people, more than half of the population, will soon rely on food aid.
The country is also facing political deadlock. Efforts to form a power-sharing government between the ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, have stalled.
I got a somber insight into many of the problems the country was facing as I visited Kadoma city in central Zimbabwe, about 112 miles west of the capital, Harare.
Oxfam has been working in the area, drilling wells so that communities can access safe drinking water, distributing hygiene kits, and undertaking health promotion work.
The health authorities have reported nearly a thousand cholera cases since mid November, with 29 deaths. Unofficial statistics put the figure even higher.
Two people had died that day; and I was shown a tent containing the wrapped corpses of seven bodies, several of which had lain there for several days and were swelling. Fuel shortages and rocketing prices meant that there were no vehicles available to take the bodies to the local cemetery.
"Things aren't stabilizing," said one nurse. "They're getting worse. We're seeing more patients every day."
With early access to treatment—intravenous fluids and oral rehydration—patients can recover quickly and be discharged within days.
But a visit to a nearby housing estate—described as a cholera "time bomb" by a senior health official—made clear why the epidemic is sweeping across the country.
The sewage system had broken down, and residents were disposing of human and other waste in the narrow lanes around their homes.
Those images haunted me as I sat in the jazz bar that night. Zimbabweans might have little to celebrate, other than surviving another difficult year; but they are still pinning their hopes that the coming year might bring some change for the better.
]]>Although the force of the storms was an act of nature, what the American people have since witnessed—an uneven and often incompetent recovery effort—is the result of deliberate human acts. If we refuse to address this as a nation, it will go down in history not only as a failure of leadership, but also as a failure to hold our government accountable.
Two fundamental indicators, housing and jobs, provide stark proof of the stalled recovery. Full recovery is possible only when affordable homes are coupled with secure, decent jobs. Without quality jobs and affordable housing, low- and moderate income families are unable to return to their former lives. Decent wages allow people to return home and recreate vibrant communities by providing the necessary workforce to rebuild the region.
The situation grows increasingly critical, but despite challenges, there is a way forward. We face a historic election; the next president of the US must guarantee a just, equitable, and complete recovery. America must take immediate action to ensure that people struggling to rebuild their communities get the support that their hard work and innovation demand.
]]>The delegation of US representatives and their staff, led by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, visited Ghana as part of a three-country African tour. On March 28, they met with a number of groups in the capital city of Accra, including Oxfam America partners the Center for Public Interest Law and WACAM.
The subject of the meeting: Why does gold mining, Ghana's largest industry, make big profits for companies and the government, but bring few benefits for the poor communities where the mining actually takes place.
Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, executive director of WACAM, told the representatives that some farmers have not been not fairly compensated when mining companies purchased their land. "Companies will pay a farmer 9 Ghana cedis, about $8, for a cocoa tree, when the cocoa tree can earn a cocoa farmer about $20 per year for an economic life of 40 to 50 years."
He said gold mining has been a cause of environmental harm in Ghana, citing the US-based Newmont Mining Corporation's plans to build a gold mine in the Ajenua Bepo nature reserve—despite a petition from over 200 farmers asking them to preserve the country's rapidly dwindling forests.
The coalition also talked about the lack of transparency on the part of mining companies and governments. When contracts and payments are kept secret, corruption and mismanagement can spread, making it harder for poor communities to get their share of mining revenues. While the government of Ghana must create more transparent policies around mining, the US also needs to make a concrete commitment to help, Owusu-Koranteng said.
A new piece of US legislation could help communities by requiring mining companies to be more transparent about their practices. On May 12, Representative Frank and other members of the House Financial Services Committee will introduce the "Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act" in the House of Representatives. The bill will require oil, gas, and mining companies registered in the US to disclose the amount and type of the payments they make in the countries where they operate.
"Now that they've met our partners, and heard how mining affects people's lives, the Congressional Delegation knows that oil, gas, and mining companies must respect the rights of the communities where they operate—in Ghana and elsewhere," says Keith Slack, director of Oxfam's Right to Know, Right to Decide campaign. "We must urge other members of Congress to follow suit and pass this crucial legislation."
]]>Charupá does not seem particularly worried, as he is used to the uncertainties of raising cattle. Moreover, he is confident about the long-term prospects of his community: in June of 2007, the president of Bolivia announced that the Chiquitano people had successfully completed all legal requirements to attain title to a vast area of Santa Cruz's eastern forest known as Monte Verde.
The indigenous people took advantage of an agrarian reform law passed in 1996 that allowed them to claim "original community territories" known by their Spanish initials as TCOs. The Monte Verde TCO has immense significance for the Chiquitano people. Their ancestors were moved out of Monte Verde in the 1700s by the Spanish and relocated to communities run by Jesuit priests. Chiquitanos were enslaved on haciendas and eventually forced to tap rubber trees in the early 20th century. The area near Charupá's village is part of San Antonio de Lomerío, a place of refuge for escaped slaves. Their descendents organized groups to work on the legal claim for their territory, while illegal logging decimated their forests.
It took more than a decade of hard work and sustained Oxfam support for the Chiquitano people to achieve their goal. Oxfam helped three local organizations, in Lomerío, San Javier, and the village of Monte Verde to coordinate their work and collaborate with the Center for Legal Studies and Social Research (known by its Spanish initials CEJIS) to get the technical training to gather satellite positioning data on the TCO borders and investigate 158 land claims by ranchers and other nonindigenous people trying to grab a piece of the territory. Only a small number of these claims were legitimate, and it was only through the legal support, technical data, and satellite photos gathered by the community members and CEJIS that the Chiquitanos could defend their claim from these interlopers, some of whom were using forged documents.
Violence has been a continuous threat to the Chiquitano people for the last 200 years. Individuals forced into slavery were murdered if they tried to escape, and later when the ancestors of escaped slaves in Lomerío organized to win back their territory, their leaders were intimidated and attacked. "We heard of incidents in other communities where entire families had been pulled out of their houses and hung by their wrists under trees," Juan Soqueré, leader of the indigenous Chiquitano community in San Lorenzo said.
Opposition to the land investigations and the legal process from civic committees, representing nonindigenous business and ranching interests opposed to the indigenous people, became violent. When the land investigations exposed fraudulent claims, there was a strong reaction. One of the worst incidents involved Leonardo Tamburini, now 41 and the director of CEJIS. In 2001 while investigating one fraudulent claim, he was kidnapped.
"They beat me so badly they almost killed me," Tamburini said. "They put me in a pick-up truck, and took me to the Cattlemen's Association headquarters in San Javier—which is next door to the church. They had me there for about an hour. There was a cattlemen's congress going on, and they paraded me around the patio of the restaurant, all beat up and bloody, saying 'This is what we do to the people who want to take our land away from us.'"
Tamburini refused to sign a document recognizing the cattlemen's claim to half the territory of Monte Verde, and after the mayor of San Javier intervened he was released. "They didn't accomplish what they wanted," he said.
Juan Soqueré said that gaining the legal title to Monte Verde has brought peace for the Chiquitano. "There are no more threats. And those that threatened us before have left the territory, and now we are all calm, living in peace."
There are 33 communities, comprising roughly 5,000 people living in or near the Monte Verde TCO. They are now looking to the future and envisioning the best ways to manage and enjoy the roughly 3,830 square-mile territory.
Lorenzo Charupá says such planning will be essential for the future. "We are deciding together what areas are for crops," he says. "We are setting aside areas for grazing, hunting, and to preserve trees. We have a map showing all the different areas and what we will do there. Everything has its place."
José Luis Rivera, president of the indigenous organization of San Javier, says they have several ways of making more money:
With the legal title in hand, the community has the confidence to make proposals to development organizations that might have otherwise been reluctant to support agricultural projects on lands the community did not legally own. "These institutions will have no doubt we can do these projects on our own land," Rivera says. "We have the right to our land and can respect our culture."
Outside Rivera's temporary office, his compañeros are building a new office to replace the one burned down by thugs last December. The walls are up, and the smell of sawdust mixes with the wood smoke and cooking scents from a nearby restaurant. Pablo Solis Chuviru, 57, is looking at the new building and reflecting on the struggle to gain the legal title to Monte Verde and what it means for the future for his small village, Turuxnapez, which means "Heaven's Door" in the local Bésiro language. "I hope we can hunt and fish, and use our trees in an orderly way," he says, resting in a chair in the winter sun. "Now we are using a forest management plan so that our children will benefit from the forest. This is the future for them; they can see the fight we won. For them it is a treasure."
]]>President and Mrs. Bush will travel to Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Liberia from February 15-21, 2008. According to the White House, the trip is likely to be focused on the fight against HIV/AIDS, democratic reform, free trade and economic opportunity across the continent.
“A victory lap around Africa is a bit premature,” said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. “President Bush has made strides to increase and restructure overseas assistance, but much greater reform of US foreign aid across the world is needed to ensure that the long-term needs of the poor—not politics—come first. At a time when the US is giving more money to Africa than ever before, our aid looks less strategic than ever.”
American generosity is undermined by a scattershot approach that prioritizes reactive efforts—like food aid—that save lives, but don't address underlying causes of poverty and hunger, according to Oxfam. US aid money should be used to strengthen economic systems that address the rights of those living in poverty, promote small producers and rural communities and strengthen national and local governments, civil society groups, and basic infrastructure in poor countries.
In addition, a growing portion of US aid prioritizes short-term security goals at the expense of long-term poverty reduction. Currently, the US Agency for International Development – which has traditionally led US foreign assistance efforts – administers less than half of US foreign aid while the share administered by the Department of Defense has jumped from 3.5 percent in 1998 to 18 percent in 2006.
“When aid is used to fight poverty effectively, it builds a safer world for everyone, and strengthens US international standing,” said Offenheiser. “Using aid for short-term security purposes – for force protection, troop morale, popular support, and other activities which do little or nothing to help reduce poverty –is unlikely to have a lasting impact on either long-term security or poverty.”
Oxfam also welcomed President Bush's recently stated commitment to finalizing a new global trade deal, but noted that the American negotiating position has not changed. The US has been aggressive in seeking greater access to developing country markets, but has been reluctant to reduce agriculture subsidies that risk increasing poverty in many developing countries.
“Pro-development trade reform at the multilateral level is badly needed, but an agreement at the WTO that would serve poor countries’ interests still seems a long way off,” said Offenheiser.” A deal that helps reduce poverty will only be achieved if rich countries change their attitudes and put development at the center of their concerns.”
In Benin, a poor cotton producing country, President Bush will undoubtedly have to defend the US’s just announced appeal to a recent World Trade Organization ruling that confirmed, yet again, that American cotton subsidies are trade distorting and that the US has not done enough to reform them. This comes as the US Congress is finalizing a bloated and broken Farm Bill that turned US farm legislation from bad to worse. But, with pressure applied by the Bush Administration to force further changes in the Farm Bill, Oxfam hopes that Congress will make some necessary reforms, such as payment limits, before sending the bill to the President to sign it into law.
“We have appreciated President Bush’s commitment to some long overdue reforms of commodity programs in the Farm Bill,” said Offenheiser. “It’s not too late to bring about more reform and create a better bill in conference.”
]]>Overall, the proposal would spend an estimated US$10 billion less over the next 10 years than projected spending for the 2002 Farm Bill, which is set to expire in September 2007. Much of the anticipated savings are from expected high prices for many commodities in future years. However, the Johanns proposal actually would spend US$5 billion more from 2008 – 2012 than simply extending the existing provisions in the 2002 Farm Bill.
Download the attached file to read the full text of this report by Oxfam America employee Emily Alpert. (From Bridges No. 1, February-March 2007, published by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development.)
]]>"In the run-up to an election, discussions are primarily focused on election process issues—which is necessary as it guarantees transparency and therefore social peace," said Mamadou Bitèye, Oxfam America's Regional Director for West Africa. "However, candidates must go one step further by voicing their views on the concerns of the citizens, such as poverty and economic governance issues." Biteye said the hearings are designed to "provide an objective basis for voters to decide who to elect."
The purpose of the exercise, as stated by Amacodou Diouf, vice-chair of CONGAD, is to "ensure that sustainable human development needs are addressed in the programs developed by the political organizations that seek the vote of the Senegalese people."
Some of the issues that will be addressed during the hearings include poverty, governance, economic growth strategies, gender, education, health, and agriculture.
A monitoring mechanism called Civil Society Observer will be created to monitor the actions of the new President of the Republic, and encourage him to deliver on the promises made during the election campaign.
Contacts have already been established with all candidates or their campaign boards and some of them have agreed to take part in the hearings. Hearings will be public and attended by the media, members of civil society, experts in sectoral issues, and citizens.
About 10 print and TV journalists, as well as some members of civil society, attended a ceremony to announce the Citizen Monitoring Program. Mouhamadou Mansour Seck, retired general and former ambassador of Senegal to the United States, was also present at the meeting with the journalists.
According to Ibrahima Aïdara, Governance Advisor at Oxfam America West Africa Office, "the initiative will be replicated during the legislative elections with hearings in the regions to allow citizens to question the candidates for parliament about their real concerns."
]]>Such lingering hard-line attitudes led to widespread political violence during the 2000 and 2002 elections in Zimbabwe. A 2000 human rights report described a typical incident: A truck transporting people to a party meeting was run off the road and attacked by members of another political group armed with AK-47s and iron bars. While most of the victims of the attack fled, two were trapped in the truck when it was firebombed, and died on the road moments later.
Thankfully, today there is considerably less political violence, and one of the groups that has made change possible is the Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET). According to director David Chimhini, the organization, founded in 2000, helped eliminate much of the violence in just a couple of years. With funds from Oxfam America, ZIMCET established a network of local "peace committees" that have brought political opponents together to learn about nonviolent conflict resolution.
These peace committees are led both by members of the ruling ZANU-PF political party and their opponents in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). ZIMCET overcame the climate of distrust by keeping the focus on peace—something neither side could oppose. ZIMCET also cultivated strong relationships with local leaders, who encouraged the new peace committees.
One peace committee created a sports league for youth, many of whom were out of school and lacked employment, which made it easy to get caught up in violence. Another committee concentrated on cultural events. But ZIMCET's main accomplishment has been to help people acknowledge their mistakes and learn to forgive one another. "Our peace committees help people change their attitude towards each other," Chimhini says. "They now say 'Never again'! We will never beat or kill just for an election."
The process has not been easy. Tina Malowa was a much-feared political operative, but after attending training sessions with ZIMCET, her perspective changed. "Sometimes I sit down and think about all the violence and at times I find myself sobbing because I know I did some evil things. Things that I really regret to this day." Her transformation has been both personal and political: "I realized that my thinking was all wrong. In democratic societies, there is bound to be an opposition party."
Beside her, at a meeting in ZIMCET's Harare office, sits Simon Mapuvire, MDC district secretary for Manicaland. Mapuvire has also come a long way. "I was beating ZANU-PF people and I was directing people to beat others," he said candidly. "Then ZIMCET taught me that I was just beating my brothers and sisters. Now Tina is my friend and we work together, and I have thrown away that evil element in my head."
]]>While the Farm Bill does little to help poor farmers in the US, it actually harms rural communities around the world. After receiving massive subsidies, US cotton farms produce more than they otherwise would, and sell their surplus at less than the cost of production. These subsidies hurt African cotton farmers by reducing the world price of cotton and shrinking their share of the market. This situation is not only unfair; it violates international rules set by the World Trade Organization.
]]>This examination of three communities emblematic of longstanding poverty and exclusion— the urban neighborhoods of East Biloxi, Mississippi, and the rural communities of Vermilion and Plaquemines parishes in Louisiana—reveals that government neglect at all levels extends beyond the well-publicized failures in New Orleans to encompass an entire region in distress.
Access to opportunity remains unequal—and unfair. In Biloxi, government officials acted first to save the city’s battered casinos by convincing state lawmakers to allow gaming on land. Not ensuring that the low-income residents of East Biloxi shared in the economic benefits, however, has made them victims of an enormous land squeeze, forcing them out of their neighborhoods and homes.
False assurances undermine future visions—and current optimism. The self-reliant residents of Erath, a mostly Cajun community in rural Vermilion Parish, began rehabilitating their houses the moment they returned after Hurricane Rita’s flood waters receded. After confusing signals about new flood elevations, plans for the town’s future, and possible homeowner grants, their progress has slowed and in some cases has been reversed by the agencies meant to facilitate it. Institutional neglect leaves communities at risk of losing everything—even their way of life.
Few state or federal funds have assisted the recovery of independent commercial fishers, who for generations have made Plaquemines Parish the center of their trade. Their inability to continue is draining Louisiana’s usually robust commercial fisheries, normally second in the nation only to Alaska.
These communities, and many like them, teeter on the brink. They are being rendered invisible.
Left behind. Forgotten.
The pattern of inequity in receiving recovery assistance from the government has been well established by past disasters. Federal disaster assistance tends to favor people who have economic assets at risk—that is, the affluent. Though the pattern may be familiar, it need not be inevitable.
Making sure the billions designated for recovery benefit the region’s most vulnerable communities remains a matter of political will. Action can and must be taken immediately.
It is, after all, what the nation promised them. That they would be rendered whole. Get ahead. Thrive.
]]>But now Hanshaw, and a growing number of other women in the Gulf Coast community, have a new foundation from which to begin rebuilding part of their lives: Coastal Women for Change, or CWC, a fledgling group of newborn activists determined have a say in the recovery of their neighborhoods.
Whatever the 2006 hurricane season brings, CWC may serve as a buffer to additional hardship. It has taught many of the women that each of them has a voice, and those voices count—individually and collectively.
"Our mission is to empower these women with knowledge of what they can do," said Hanshaw, the group's new director. "It's unlimited. You can build. You can go back to school. You can call your local officials. You can talk to them. They're there for us."
Now numbering about 25 regular members, with a core group of 10, CWC was launched with the help of Safiya Daniels, a community development specialist for Oxfam America, who has been working chiefly in Biloxi and Gulfport.
"One big difference that I saw between these two cities was the existence of organized community groups," said Daniels. "I realized that outside of the churches, Biloxi had none. I also noticed there was very little institutionalized female leadership in Biloxi."
Daniels also worried that there seemed to be few community gatherings in Biloxi to discuss what direction the city was taking as it began recovering from Katrina. Long-range community planning was not on anyone's neighborhood radar screen.
"This was a dangerous situation," said Daniels. "Everyone else was making a plan: casino developers, condo developers, and the city, but there was very little evidence of broad community participation."
She knew the concern was there—"in every community there are lots of concerned women who want a vibrant, healthy, and safe community for their families to live in"—but how to turn that interest into action was the missing piece. So, Daniels called a meeting.
"I brought a group of women together to talk about what was happening in their community, what issues and problems they faced, and how these could be addressed," said Daniels.
That first meeting grew into a series of sessions which blossomed into action, spawned weekly gatherings, attracted new members, and finally gave birth to an official group with a name and stated mission. Its goal is this: "to make a difference in our communities through securing and revitalizing our neighborhoods." Information sharing is the critical tool in achieving that end.
"I don't want people to be left out," said Hanshaw. "I want to give them knowledge. Knowledge is power."
Knowledge starts with asking questions, and one of the first events CWC sponsored was a Biloxi community forum to which it invited the mayor, city councilors, and members of the city planning department. Questions abounded—about flood elevations mapped out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), about affordable housing, about displaced people. Nearly 200 residents showed up for the forum.
Attendees not only got some answers, some of them learned a deeper lesson as well.
"Democracy works only if people make it work," said Daniels. "And we do that by holding people accountable. There possibly has never been a time during the mayor's 13-year tenure that he found himself in such a position, being watched and held accountable by this particular community, and in such a public way."
Asking questions is the first step. Having a say in the answers is the next step. Right away, CWC members sought seats on a planning commission formed by Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway. Called Reviving the Renaissance Committee, it was given 90 days to come up with a plan for the city's recovery.
Five CWC members have been weighing in on matters of finance, education, land use, and affordable housing—the subcommittees for which they signed up. And people are beginning to listen to CWC's opinions.
"We are in the paper every week," said Hanshaw, adding that she gets the sense she is even making some of the powerbrokers nervous.
"They try to turn their heads when I come up," she said. "Especially the developers. They don't want to talk to me. They know where I stand."
For Cass Woods, working with CWC has given her a direct link to her community, and that link is allowing her to make things better all around.
"It makes me feel good to help someone," said Woods, who has been living in a government issue trailer—the size of a matchbox, she said—parked in her back yard for months. "That's what has helped me get through my loss."
With a $30,000 seed grant from the 21st Century Foundation, CWC will be able to pay Hanshaw a salary, purchase office supplies, and begin to look ahead at how to fund itself into the future.
Meanwhile, the organization is undertaking a new task: a survey of East Biloxi to find out the childcare needs of the community's residents. To renew its license, a local day care organization is being required to assess the need for its services in the area.
"This is our first project," said Hanshaw. "Another accomplishment under our belts."
And it's just the kind of project Daniels had a hunch a group like CWC could offer the community.
"The needs of the community will drive what CWC takes on," said Daniels. With those needs being constant—as they are in every community—Daniels expects the new organization to have a long and productive life.
"It's going to stand on its own. I am confident of that," she said. "I could see it truly growing into a coastwide organization."
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