Experience
Impact
Precious Impact
The pandemic exacerbated already challenging experiences for many kids and families across the Mississippi Delta.
The New York Times just shared a story of Jordyn Coleman, his mom Precious, and their struggle with pandemic learning. His school is a couple blocks from us in downtown Clarksdale.
If you'd like to support Jordyn's education and Precious in improving the family's learning environment, we've partnered with the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi to set up a fund for them. Donate here -- and under Donation Designation, type "Precious & Jordyn." They and the MS Crisis Foundation are doing awesome work here and will get your donations directly to the family. In the Delta, we all work together to route online donations to folks like Precious who don't have bank accounts.
Thanks to journalist Rukmini Callimachi & photographer Tamir Kalifa for so beautifully sharing this story.
Supporting Community
If you'd like to support organizations throughout the community doing heroes' work with so! many! families like the Colemans, here are a few we've been proud to work alongside.
Follow links below to support each directly, or support the Delta Experiences Fund and we'll direct donations to most effectively support local 1) families, 2) education, and 3) access issues. Donate via the Community Foundation here -- and under Donation Designation, type "Delta Experiences Fund."
We also just launched a "Share the Love" fundraiser that honors mommas and other loved ones with a gift to one, some, or all of these organizations. Donate on our site here, and we'll send directly to all organizations you choose.
(psst: follow @SharedExperiencesUSA on Facebook and Instagram for more updates coming soon...)
Addressing diaper needs, period poverty, lactation support, parenting classes and so much more, this is the ultimate small-but-mighty nonprofit serving families throughout the Mississippi and Arkansas Delta.
Empowering youth to beat the odds, access the opportunities they deserve, and build successful, happy, and hopeful lives for themselves.
Empowering youth through the arts, education, and workforce development opportunities.
Furthering impact in education and beyond, based on the lessons learned from the people who came before us.
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Addressing historically-rooted, systemic poverty through education and construction of one house at a time.
Building deep connection between the Mississippi River and the youth and communities who live alongside it, one paddle stroke at a time.
Mississippi Delta: Shared Experiences
"You're in the poorest part of the poorest state in the country -- but we are very rich, in many ways."
- Ground Zero co-founder Bill Luckett
Mississippi Delta cotton fields are a birthplace of the blues. They're also a birthplace of civil rights. And mechanized farming. They're related. It's complicated.
We've been exploring connections between past and present:
The tracks that brought Muddy Waters from Clarksdale to Chicago still run through the center of town. He fled those fields for good reason. So did a generation of musicians and millions of others Americans, in what we now call the Great Migration.
Travelers retrace those tracks, whether along the Blues Trail or the Civil Rights Trail, and find themselves at Clarksdale's Ground Zero.
It's "ground zero" for the blues -- which was borne of Mississippi's famed creativity, and yes, soul and struggle.
It's also ground zero for this rich network of inspiring people and nonprofits creating change in this place where so much struggle began. We're proud to partner with them.
Shared Experiences USA is a social impact company that connects people. During the pandemic, we've brought people together and kept the blues alive through our Live From Clarksdale project. We've also explored stories and travel virtually, and look forward to welcoming people with in-person experiences again soon. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram, or join us on the journey.