Our Recipient Community

We have determined that our recipient community will be East Biloxi, Mississippi. The organization distributing the bikes will be the East Biloxi Coordination and Relief Center, whose mission statement, goals, and objectives are reproduced below. Some other information about this location and organization include:

EBCRC's Mission Statement

The mission of the East Biloxi Coordination and Relief Center is to support the individuals, families, small businesses, and neighborhoods of East Biloxi, Mississippi as they rebuild their community in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. EBCRC will marshal resources with the goal of ensuring the residents of Wards 1 and 2 are included as active participants in the rebuilding by providing access to those whose circumstances have precluded participation in the past. Working in concert with community, faith-based and civic organizations, government officials and private entities, EBCRC will work to ensure that the citizens of East Biloxi—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or immigration status--achieve self-sufficiency and success in the economic mainstream of society. EBCRC will carry out its mission by linking clients with direct services, coordinating planning for redevelopment efforts, facilitating private sector and community investment.

EBCRC's Goals and Objectives

East Biloxi faces the distinct possibility that many of its citizens will abandon their neighborhood as unsalvageable and relegate it to luxury developers. If Wards 1 and 2 are to determine their own fate, residents will need to feel they have choices and hope for their futures. The East Biloxi Coordination and Relief Center will work to ensure maximum integration of relief and reconstruction programs with a long-term development plan by helping the community create a unified vision for the future. Enlisting the support of outside agencies and existing community-based organizations (which for example include a small number of community housing and development and immigrants rights organizations), the Center will help East Biloxi leverage limited resources for rebuilding by ensuring:

  1. An Equitable Redevelopment Process. All residents, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or immigration status, will have their voices heard in the redevelopment and planning processes. Reconstruction and transformation based on an integrated approach of transparency, good governance, and full participation of civil society.
  2. Good Coordination. Ensure that services and redevelopment activities are in line with priorities established by the community, and that funds, energy, and expertise of key stakeholders (CDC’s, city officials, community-based organizations, and voluntary agencies) are directed to where they are most needed. The Center will also provide office and computing services to other agencies in the area and will serve as an information distribution center, communicating to residents who have been displaced or lost access to phone and post services.
  3. Sustainability of Redevelopment Efforts. Working towards an East Biloxi community that is more self-sufficient than before Katrina, developing community leadership and local businesses to ensure that gains made will lead to a strong and lasting economic foundation.
  4. Social Development. Improvement in East Biloxi’s physical, mental, and spiritual state with an emphasis on fostering community pride.