STEPS Coalition • Gulfport, Mississippi
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People tend to stay within their comfort zones even under dire circumstances. However, when governmental and societal institutions dissolve under the weight of an unprecedented natural disaster, things change. The STEPS Coalition of Gulfport, Mississippi is a group of more than 30 organizations promoting cooperative, proactive, and equitable rebuilding strategies along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and beyond. This form of multi-racial advocacy is unique in the region due to the forces of history and local culture. That said, the need to find common ground is never clearer than when facing a catastrophe of epic proportions.

The genesis of the STEPS Coalition came when Derrick Evans of the Turkey Creek Community Initiatives saw a wide variety of needs, and a vacuum where a sound local communications infrastructure should reside. Bernadette Orr of Oxfam and Rev. John Vaughn of 21CF chipped in resources to get things started, and the organizations united to build a power base among people who have been traditionally marginalized in terms of race and socio-economic class.