Smidgen: SCHF, MCC stretch their grant money

Published 12:03 am Sunday, July 25, 2010

On the same page last week, The Vicksburg Post reported two federal grants totaling about $500,000 for economic development and, in another story, two state grants totaling $43,500 by the Mississippi Arts Commission.

A point worth pondering is which will give more bang for the buck, especially in terms of quality of life.

The federal grants announced by U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson were almost evenly split between Central Mississippi Planning and Development District and a group called TEAM Inc., in Port Gibson. CMPDD is a well-established regional organization. It provides valuable services to local officials by providing expert guidance in areas such as industrial recruitment, redistricting and on other topics. Not much is known about TEAM, but the names are familiar as those who frequently seek federal cash in Claiborne County, where poverty and joblessness hold sway and local elected officials have shown little aptitude for effecting change. TEAM says it will buy an abandoned flooring plant with the money and is required to “create” 18 jobs.

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The MAC money also comes from federal sources, but decisions on how to spend it are not made by politicians. They’re made based on proven program effectiveness. In total, MAC had — for the year — $1.64 million and spread it among 255 applicants, some getting a few hundred dollars.

“Large” awards here were $21,750 each to the Southern Cultural Heritage Center and Port Gibson’s Mississippi Cultural Crossroads.

That’s less than $2,000 per month, but look at what the groups do.

SCHF contributes greatly to the vibrancy of this city, offering more than 75 cultural and artistic programs and activities annually. Director Annette Kirklin said much of the MAC allocation will assist the River Kids free after-school art program, as well as workshops, lectures and exhibits. SCHF also raises about 10 times the grant allocation from other sources, including private sponsors and admissions fees, memberships and personal donations.

Mississippi Cultural Crossroads is another super-success story. The well-managed program offers a day care art class, after-school art classes, quilting classes, environment reading and summer arts classes, said Tara Wren, director. In other words, the whole goal is to bring people together and to enrich the quality of community life.

In the worst of situations, taxpayer-funds grants — often very large ones — disappear into the vapors. But sometimes even a little bit of public money can go a long, long way. The Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation and Mississippi Cultural Crossroads prove the latter every day.