Description

Visions offers teenagers opportunities for ambitious service work and cross-cultural immersion in the United States and abroad. We work with and for intercultural communities that lack financial and other development resources. Through service, authentic experience, and active exploration, we encourage new perspectives and dynamic learning.

Visions Mississippi participants live and work in a coastal Mississippi community best described in a September 2005 press release of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: "North Gulfport and Turkey Creek are communities rooted in African American history. Purchased and settled by a group of emancipated African Americans in 1866, the few acres of land later known as Turkey Creek was a vibrant, self-sufficient neighborhood, replete with farms, homesteads and the first African American school in the Gulfport region. At the time that Katrina struck, North Gulfport and Turkey Creek were the sites of numerous historic homes and minority businesses. Community groups and residents have been working hard to obtain historic preservation status and build affordable housing. Now, the communities are fighting to survive."

Since 2006 in partnerships with the North Gulfport Land Trust, Audubon Mississippi, and Turkey Creek Community Initiatives, VISIONS participants have accomplished impressive service. This includes construction of a 600 sq. ft. outdoor environmental classroom; fishing decks and a 50 arched wooden walking bridge over a Turkey Creek tributary that eases access to community green space and a neglected waterway that was once the setting for Saturday afternoon fishing contests and Sunday morning baptisms.

2008 participants built a wildlife observation deck 6 ft. above ground with attached handicap ramp; created community murals with the North Gulfport Youth Council; distributed health and social services information throughout the community, volunteered at the Isaiah Fredericks Senior Center, planted trees, and more.

A range of activities rounds out the service. Spontaneous catfish frys, beach outings, making music with local teens. Mark LaSalle's irresistible Cajun hospitality and keen Audubon wisdom and a Moss Point barbeque with live music and tall Southern tales. Derrick Evans compelling accounts of Turkey Creeks strategic and historic place as a major watershed wetland. [In October 2006 Robert Kennedy Jr., stood in the outdoor classroom that VISIONS built three months earlier and named Derrick Mississippis first Riverkeeper as part of The Waterkeeper Alliance, a national advocacy group dedicated to preserving and protecting community waters.

Highlights

Of course, it won't all be work in Mississippi. Some of the excursions include fishing on the bayou, taking a flatboat spin to try your hand at crabbing, spending a long day and evening in New Orleans, ferrying to Shipp and Dauphin Islands, exploring lush coastal backwoods by canoe; beach combing, and more.

Travel Types

• Volunteering

Type of Programs

• Community Service / Volunteerism
• Cultural Exploration

Languages

• English

Cost in US$:

5,050

Cost Includes:

• Housing
• Food
• Excursions
• Written materials pre-departure

Experience Required

no

Volunteer Types

Age Range

14 - 18

This Program is open to

Worldwide Participants.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Group living

Participants Travel

Independently or in Groups

Typically Participants Work

in Groups

Scholarships are Available

Application Process Involves

• Written Application
• Physical Exam/Health Records

Typically The Application Process Time is

1 week or less

Post Services Include

• Alumni Network

Visions Service Adventures's Mission Statement

Through service work and dynamic experience, Visions offers new perspectives and deep learning while working for and with under-resourced communities. Through construction-based and other service and on-site living, Visions introduces teens to cultures very different from their own. Participants are challenged to grow thoughtfully and intentionally within a community of peers and adult leaders. The service work accomplished is a gift to local hosts who welcome Visions participants into their homes and lives. Visions assists organizations that serve under-resourced communities. We provide labor and raw materials for projects designated by communities. Depending on the duration and size of a program, Visions provides USD 3,000 to USD 7,000 for each location's projects, which we fund in full or by adding funds to local funding sources for projects.

Year Founded

1989