Delta State University is providing local entrepreneurs with resources and support to plan, start or grow their small business through its Business Assistance Center (BAC). Read More
Delta State University’s Local Government Leadership Institute (LGLI) received $251,250 from the Robert M. Hearin Foundation as the final installment of a three-year $702,750 grant to support municipal leaders in Mississippi Delta cities, towns, and counties. This concluding round of funding enables LGLI to offer workshops, training, resources, tools, networking, and other assistance to mayors, councilpersons, alderpersons, municipal clerks, city managers, county supervisors, and county administrators in all 18 counties in the Mississippi Delta. LGLI has been phasing in programming to six counties a year since its creation in 2017. Read More
Delta State University’s Center for Community and Economic Development announces the launch of the Delta Educational Opportunity Center, a Federal TRIO Program.
In an effort to educate and train residents in the Mississippi Delta, the DEOC, under the leadership of Lakisha L. Butler, is recruiting young adults, 19 or older, who want to enter or continue a program of postsecondary education.
DEOC provides counseling and information on the college enrollment process to qualified adults. Participants receive one-on-one assistance in completing applications for financial aid and college admission. Workshops will offer study skills, computer literacy, basic financial planning skills and more to participants and their families. In addition, participants will be provided access to computers to search online resources, like scholarship information and career options.
Need to complete your high school education first? DEOC assists with enrollment in Adult Basic Education programs offering GED and/or HiSET testing. Classes, testing, workshops and more are available at no cost to participants.
To learn more about the DEOC, attend an upcoming information session. In Bolivar, Washington, Humphreys, Holmes, Issaquena and Sharkey counties, contact LaSheka D. Bell at 662-846-4334 or e-mail lbell@deltastate.edu. In Coahoma, Tunica, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Sunflower and Leflore counties, contact Jonathan Calvin at 662-846-4335 or e-mail jcalvin@deltastate.edu.
A group of applied population researchers recently held their annual workshop and mini-conference in the Mississippi Delta. The meeting was part of a multi-state research project titled “The Great Recession, Its Aftermath, and Patterns of Rural and Small Town Demographic Change.”
To better understand issues of concern to rural community and health development professionals, participants engaged in an interactive panel discussion held at the Coahoma County Higher Education Center in Clarksdale.
Sixteen scholars from research institutions across the nation – including Cornell University, Penn State University, Auburn University, University of Missouri, University of Wisconsin, and the USDA Economic Research Service —joined seven of their Mississippi colleagues to present research on demographic and socioeconomic issues of concern following the Great Recession.
The group discussed strategies for better disseminating their work to the public. Additionally, they developed plans for the next five years of their work together, including their recently launched research brief series that is available online as “Population Trends in Post-Recession Rural America.” Interested readers should check the website periodically as new publications are released at http://w3001.apl.wisc.edu/.
The panel discussion was moderated and organized by Dr. John J. Green, director of the Center for Population Studies at University of Mississippi. Panelists included: Dr. Rolando Herts, director of The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State; Linda Stringfellow, director of the AmeriCorps VISTA Program in the Center for Community and Economic Development at Delta State; Aurelia Jones-Taylor, CEO of the Aaron E. Henry Community Health Center; and Desta Reff, Delta Clinical Fellow, a partnership between Mississippi State University and Harvard Law School.
The group of applied population researchers is associated with the Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Directors. The 2016 meeting was co-hosted and co-sponsored by the University of Mississippi’s Center for Population Studies, Department of Sociology and Anthropology and McLean Institute.
The mission of The Delta Center is to promote greater understanding of Mississippi Delta culture and history and its significance to the world through education, partnerships and community engagement. The Delta Center serves as the management entity of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area and is the home of the International Delta Blues Project and the National Endowment for the Humanities “Most Southern Place On Earth” workshops. For more information, visit http://deltacenterdsu.com/.
To kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Breast Education & Early-detection Project (B.E.E.P.) and the Outdoor Recreation Program at Delta State University held the third annual B.E.E.P. Walk-a-thon on Oct. 5 at the DSU Fitness Trail.
The event was attended by 261 participants who walked 827 laps, or the equivalent of 413.5 miles. It was sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Roger Blake and the Blake Surgical Association. Delta Dairy of Cleveland provided samples of ice cream to event participants.
Also partnering for the event were: the College of Education and Human Sciences; Dean of Graduate Studies, Continuing Education and Research; Department of Athletics, HPER; greek organizations; Robert E. Smith School of Nursing; and the Central Mississippi Steel Magnolias Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
A special thanks was expressed to volunteers assisting with the event, including: Debbie Allen, Todd Davis, Dr. Beverly Moon, Nancy Reginelli, Dr. Rose Strahan, and Kimberly Williams. Also assisting with the walk were DSU students Tia Brown, Katie Genneralli,and Liz Hansen from the Outdoor Recreation Program, and Eric Rush from the School of Nursing.
B.E.E.P. focuses on raising awareness of breast cancer and breast health and increasing the number of women who adopt early cancer detection methods. The project has been funded by a grant from the Central Mississippi Steel Magnolias Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation since 2008. B.E.E.P. provides breast health education and funding for clinical exams, mammograms, and ultrasounds for women who have limited income, are uninsured or underinsured, and have limited access to preventative healthcare in Bolivar, Sunflower, Washington and surrounding counties.
The walkathon raised $1,000 for B.E.E.P. to utilize, in addition to the grant funds, to provide breast cancer screenings and education.
B.E.E.P. has maintained long-term partnerships with local healthcare facilities and community organizations since 2008. Through March 31, 2016, the project has:
- sponsored or participated in over 400 breast cancer awareness events.
- reached 21,444 individuals
- provided 546 mammograms, 37 ultrasounds and 637 clinical exams
- provided 511 transportation stipends to participants to assist with costs of travel for the screenings
- referred 72 individuals for further testing after the screenings
- assisted in identifying 14 individuals with cancer through additional testing
For more information on B.E.E.P., contact Gail Bailey at 662-846-4008 or gbailey@deltastate.edu.
