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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

— Love Jackson and want to help make its future brighter? You can get involved with a rebuilding effort by the city of Jackson and Americorps. Here’s a verbatim statement on how it works:

The City of Jackson and AmeriCorps is teaming up to provide citizens the chance to take part in the Capital City Rebuilds Program. The program offers citizens the opportunity to gain volunteer experience by participating in various City and community-related functions.

The program is open to individuals 21 years of age or older. The deadline for filling out applications is August 3, 2012.

The minimum qualifications to be considered for eligibility into the program are the following:

  1. Must be a United States citizen, a national, or a legal permanent resident
  2. Resident of the City of Jackson
  3. Must be 21 years of age and older
  4. College experience preferred

The program begins September 17, 2012 and ends August 31, 2013. Volunteers may receive benefits such as: a monthly stipend or (living allowance), health insurance, childcare, and an educational award of $5,500 upon completion of 1700 hours.

For more information, contact AmeriCorps Capital City Rebuilds Program Coordinator,

Linda Caldwell at 601-960-0335 or visit http://www.americorps.gov to complete an application.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.