DELTA FACT SHEET

Building Communities in the Lower Mississippi Delta

The Lower Mississippi Delta is one of the poorest areas in the United States, with nearly a third of the population in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi living in poverty. The Delta is also characterized by a sluggish economy, high unemployment rates, and problems arising from a legacy of segregation.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture and the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) have convened a collaborative initiative to create a comprehensive community development strategy focused on the nonmetro counties identified by the Delta Commission as belonging to the Delta region. The purpose of this effort is to engender greater coordination and cooperation among present initiatives in the Delta and to add value to Delta projects.

This initiative began with a clear mandate against duplicating ongoing efforts or conducting another study on the Delta. Instead, the initiative was directed at accomplishing the following objectives:

To build upon existing plans and community development efforts to establish a framework for identifying and promoting successful Delta projects.
To strengthen the capacity of nonprofit organizations to undertake community-based development work in the region.
To leverage necessary capital to facilitate a potential long-term regional collaborative effort in the Delta.

HAC facilitated initiative's development through a consultative process involving representatives of local, regional, state and national entities, including the government, community-based groups, philanthropic organizations, and the private sector.

Through participation in this initiative, a collaborative of Delta stakeholders has successfully synthesized recommendations to form a strategy for continued development in the region. These recommendations represent a consensus of priorities and are focused on bringing together a network of partners committed to improving conditions in the Delta.

Participants in the Delta initiative are currently in the process of developing a partnership agreement called the Delta Compact. The Delta Compact is designed to encourage key stakeholders to adopt development strategies for the Delta, and to redirect their efforts in the region to better address the region's needs. All the Delta initiative partners hope the Compact will succeed in connecting present initiatives in new ways, induce new players to join existing initiatives or start new ones, and create new financial and technical assistance products for the Delta.

Questions? Contact Surabhi Dabir or Fred Toney.