by Rev. Shari Prestemon
Grace and peace to the congregations and members of the Connecticut Conference from Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi, your partner in ministry!
Two years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, just and equitable recovery remains an enormous challenge. Large-scale redevelopment of devastated neighborhoods has been extremely slow, complicated by issues that include new building elevation requirements, high land costs, delayed insurance recoveries and the steeply rising costs of property insurance. While high-rise condos sprout up all along on the Mississippi coast, affordable housing for low-to-moderate income persons is nearly non-existent. Housing costs have risen 30 to 40 percent since Hurricane Katrina, but wages have not risen to help meet the rising cost of living.
Back Bay Mission, a community ministry of the United Church of Christ since 1922, remains a center of disaster recovery efforts for the United Church of Christ in Mississippi. Thousands of UCC volunteers nationwide have joined us in housing recovery efforts aimed at getting lowincome homeowners back into their homes. A recent expansion to that program will provide space for more UCC individuals to join in that work.
Aside from this traditional disaster recovery work, Back Bay Mission is a key community leader, conducting vital advocacy and community development efforts. Back Bay Mission also provides emergency assistance and case management for low-income residents and permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless persons. And we have recently committed to developing new construction affordable housing for the first time in our history.
Back Bay Mission’s long-standing partnership with the Connecticut Conference has been a particular blessing since Hurricane Katrina. Over the last two years, 23 Connecticut congregations have sent 364 individuals to join us in essential disaster recovery efforts. Many other UCC congregations in Connecticut have contributed generously to directly support the expanding and desperately needed ministries of the Mission, while still others have provided in-kind support such as school kits, hygiene items, and other goods. Two pastors within the Connecticut Conference, Rev. Jonathan Morgan of First Church of Christ, Simsbury and Rev. David Taylor of First Church of Christ, Congregational, Glastonbury, serve on the Mission’s Board of Directors.
In addition, a Conference committee formed in the aftermath of Katrina is dedicated to promoting and assisting the recovery efforts at Back Bay, Central Congregational Church in New Orleans and the Florida Conference. We view that group as valued “development associates.” Beyond this, many others from the Conference staff and wider Conference have made personal visits of support and provide ongoing mission interpretation within the Connecticut Conference regarding the Mission’s ministries and needs.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed six of the Mission’s seven campus facilities, leaving the seventh with major damage. With our renovation and rebuilding challenges in mind, the Connecticut Conference has made a significant and innovative commitment to the Mission’s own recovery process, by pledging a tithe of income received through the Conference’s Now for the Future capital campaign for Silver Lake Conference Center. Such a generous commitment will greatly assist the Mission’s ability to serve the community long into the future, freeing other resources for direct benefit to the community’s most vulnerable citizens.
The Board and staff of Back Bay Mission offer sincere thanks to the Connecticut Conference for its longstanding and never-failing partnership with us. More than ever, such relationships and support are a source of awesome blessing and hope.
Rev. Shari Prestemon is the Executive Director of Back Bay Mission. To learn more about how you can help the communities of the Gulf Coast, visit www.backbaymission.com.
