Column: Two Cities

editorial-fi

By Rich Raymond

In November my wife Susan and I moved to Selma, Alabama after 18 years in Greenwich.  The contrast could hardly be more striking, and yet while many of our expectations have in fact been met, we have found many surprises.

Upon learning of our impending move, many of our friends in the Northeast reacted simply – “Why?”  The short answer is that Susan spent 3 years doing consulting work for the Edmundite Missions, a Catholic organization founded by the Fathers of St. Edmund, (Vermont) here in Selma while she was at Changing Our World, a New York City based philanthropy management company.  The Missions offered her the opportunity to be the Chief Operating Officer of a new social enterprise initiative she has been working to create.  Edmundite Missions Enterprises is now up and operating, producing food products for national sale out of the Bosco Nutrition Center kitchens and creating more jobs in Selma and helping to fund the meals that are the only hot food available to the poor surrounding the Missions.

The longer answer is that the needs here are extreme, and the chance to make a difference is too compelling to ignore.  The Missions have been serving the poor in Selma for 80 years.  In a city of 23,000, the Missions serve 1300 meals a day 365 days a year, often the only hot meal a person receives, shelter more than 2,000 people per year, and provides medicine to another 3,000.  Selma is a place of pride, pride in its history, pride in its people, and pride in its persistence.  The irony is that although Selma evokes an iconic image of the civil rights movement, it is also a place of economic and social immobility. The numbers tell the story: 

43% of the residents live in poverty. 

Two of every three children lives in poverty. 

Unemployment remains in double digits, and more than 25% for young Black men. 

73% of the unemployed are between the ages of 22 and 44, the prime working ages.

Household incomes served are half of those of Alabama as a whole (most living on less than $9,000 a year), and a third of the nation. 

Local business never recovered from the closing of Craig Air force Base in 1977; there are fewer than eight new housing construction starts every year. 

There are limited employers, but trained labor and experienced managers are hard to find.

To address these underlying problems, Susan is working with the Missions’ President and Chief Executive Officer Chad McEachern to continue developing new initiatives in education and youth programs while initiating a multi-faceted social enterprise under the Missions’ auspices. And having  joined my fellow parishioners at St. Barnabas Greenwich in serving meals at Pacific House in Stamford and in other of its outreach programs, I have been moved to support Susan’s effort and pitch in where I can.

So what has met our expectations?  The many visits Susan made over the last 3 years (a few of which I joined) left us with no illusions about the scale of the problems here.  To point to one example, we live across the street from a grand mansion — Sturdivant Hall — that has been restored and serves as a museum of post-Civil War art and architecture. 

But on one side of our home is an abandoned house and on the other a food pantry that is open one day per week.  That scene is repeated throughout the historic Old Town, with lovingly restored homes interspersed with houses whose owners fell on hard times and were unable to recover.  Crime is an issue as it is in any urban area and prudence is called for to a far higher degree that any place else we have ever lived.  But we have found our neighbors, most long-time Selma residents both white and African American, determined to look out for one another.  There is a deep sense here that what was once known as the Queen City should and can have a rebirth.

There are many benefits to our move, not least of which has been a chance to grow in new ways, not the least of which has been finding a local diner with the best grits this side of Chattanooga!   We have been especially warmly welcomed by our respective faith communities – Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Susan’s case and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in my case.  The famous Southern charm and friendliness are, frankly, underrated.  Although unmistakably Northerners, we have not seen anything but courtesy from everyone we meet.  (Although a Civil War era cannon sits at an odd angle in front of City Hall;  it turns out it is pointed due North (“just in case”!)  But to cite one example, after a rare snowfall I was driving and needed to stop by the side of the road to clear my windshield.  It was a minor nuisance, but a young man stopped his pickup truck just to make sure we didn’t need help. 

So as Selma has again entered into the national spotlight as a result of the recent Senate special election, we remain hopeful that we can bring positive change to this important and historic place.

To learn more about the Edmundite Missions go to www.edmunditemissions.org. To learn more about St. Barnabas Church Greenwich and its outreach programs go to www.StBarnabasGreenwich.org

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