The Delta Bridge Project in Phillips County, Arkansas, is Southern’s flagship community development program.  This program brings an innovative approach to community development into the heart of one of the nation’s most impoverished regions.  Phillips County, seated by newly-merged Helena-West Helena, is rich in culture but poor in assets.  The Delta Bridge Project helps county leaders and residents utilize the strengths of the community to increase the capacity of local community organizations, which enables sustained community development work.

Visit the Delta Bridge Project website at http://www.deltabridgeproject.com

A major product to date of the Delta Bridge Project is the Phillips County Strategic Community Plan, which, now ratified, has moved from a planning stage to an implementation stage.  Since the implementation, Phillips County has demonstrated the Delta Bridge Project’s tremendous potential.  For the first time in several decades, community members can point to a steady flow of positive changes that have occurred.

 
Through the Delta Bridge Project, Southern is helping to create a model of effective, comprehensive, and financially responsible community development.  This model addresses the needs of individuals at all socio-economic levels.  The Delta Bridge Project has already brought almost $50 million to Phillips County for projects with real impact in the lives of residents. Southern is currently working to replicate this successful model in Clark County, Arkansas, and is making plans to do the same in Sunflower County, Mississippi.
  
Below are some key successes that demonstrate the Delta Bridge Project’s strong potential as a model for sustainable community development:

• In order to stabilize the historic buildings on Cherry Street until full restoration can occur, roof repairs have been completed for 24 historic Cherry Street buildings.
• After the Delta Bridge Project funded a $30,000 site-specific bio-diesel feasibility study in 2005, local Phillips County investors stepped forward to begin construction on a 40 million gallon-per-year bio-diesel manufacturing facility in Phillips County in 2006.
• Southern began construction in 2006 of Southern Place Apartments, a residential community for low income individuals.  The complex is expected to open by the summer of 2007 and will feature a USDA subsidy that guarantees residents will not pay more than 30% of their gross monthly income for rent and utilities.
• Southern Financial Partners worked with several partners to finance and build a $4.5 million health and wellness facility.  With 30,000 square feet, this facility provides a wellness center with exercise equipment and exercise classes, a community health library, and health education classrooms.
• The Phillips County Boys and Girls Club opened in 2006.  The current facility has approximately 200 members and will expand into a permanent facility when renovation funding is obtained