Photo credit Rory Doyle

In 1968, Quitman County, Mississippi became the face of poverty on a national scale. Martin Luther King, Jr., wanted to start the Poor People’s Campaign in Quitman County after being moved to tears by a teacher in Marks feeding Black schoolchildren a meager lunch of a slice of apple and some crackers.

Systemic underinvestment isn’t easy to fix, but the strongest strategies look at community investments in multiple forms. This outlook informs the work of Communities Unlimited: technical assistance to Big Field Water Association in Quitman County, funded by a federal grant, has led to philanthropic investment that put fortified roofs over families’ heads and will provide low-interest loans for safe septic systems.

Today, many people in Quitman County still struggle with access to basic infrastructure. The community’s median household income is $30,169. ”The economy is pretty bad,” said Dwight Barfield, board president of the Big Field Water Association.

But residents also see richness in Quitman County that can’t be measured in dollars. “It’s the quality of life,” Barfield said.

Dwight’s wife Loria Barfield also grew up in small-town Mississippi and moved to Marks eight years ago, when they fell in love. “It’s the strength of community ties, the culture and the willingness of people to help one another,” Loria Barfield said of Quitman County. “My husband is the epitome of that.”

Photo credit Rory Doyle

Photo credit Rory Doyle

Safe, reliable drinking water through Big Field Water Association

That shared sense of care shows up in Dwight’s work with Big Field Water Association — a small utility at the heart of Quitman County. As a committed public servant who formerly served as mayor of Marks, his volunteer position with the water association includes everything from developing policies to reading meters.

Big Field Water Association is a non-profit water organization that provides water to about 280 households in rural Quitman County, outside the city limits of Marks. The utility has its own wells and has absorbed two smaller water systems. The system now serves customers across more than a 28 mile radius.

When Dwight Barfield became board president, Big Field Water Association didn’t have many of the resources it needed for compliance. The Mississippi State Department of Health connected Big Field with the nonprofit Communities Unlimited, which hires experts skilled in drinking water compliance to work with tiny, struggling utilities like Big Field and ensure their customers have safe water.

Operating under a grant from the federal Office of Community Services to serve small rural water and wastewater providers across the South, Lorraine Magee and the rest of CU’s community infrastructure team helped Big Field Water Association with training and technical assistance. Magee has been the boots-on-the-ground connection for Dwight Barfield and is a resource for any question. She works with 16 water and wastewater systems in Mississippi.

“Communities Unlimited has been a jewel, a lifesaver for Big Field Water Association,” Dwight Barfield said. “Ms. Magee assisted me with our policies and procedures, which we did not have, and brought structure to the vision I had for the Big Field Water Association.”

CU has helped Big Field Water Association develop emergency response plans and conduct a rate study—necessities for ensuring the system can make ends meet. “The rate study was an eye opener,” Loria Barfield said. “It was able to give us a clear path forward.”

Unfortunately, a water rate increase is inevitable to ensure the system’s sustainability. “If we are going to look at ensuring families in Quitman County have reliable and affordable water for generations to come, it’s got to start now,” Loria Barfield said.

Future work may include using GIS to map the existing system, including pipes, hookups and meters. “We are located in rural areas, and it makes it impossible to locate the water meters,” Dwight Barfield said.

Photo credit Rory Doyle

Connections help address housing and wastewater needs

CU’s work with Big Field Water Association also opened the door to other partnerships to meet basic needs in this rural community. “They take a holistic approach,” Loria Barfield said of CU.

Safe, reliable drinking water isn’t the only basic thing on residents’ minds. Over the years, many homes in Quitman County have been handed down without a clear title, making it impossible to get loans. Property owners who lack the cash or credit to finance big repairs make do with blue tarps, buckets and homemade fixes.

Dwight Barfield laid out the dilemma faced by homeowners: “Do I lose my house or just let my roof leak? So you choose to keep the property, pay the mortgages, pay the taxes, but there’s not enough saved up to get a roof or a septic tank.”

Supported by FHLB (Federal Home Loan Bank) Dallas, CU has now provided fortified roofs cost-free to 53 households in Quitman County, after receiving an overwhelming response to a first round of $500,000 in funding. “That program took off like crazy,” Dwight Barfield said. “It’s been a blessing to our members and other citizens of Quitman County.”

Having a strong roof over their heads is “giving people peace of mind and security at their home, protecting their home from severe weather and lifting the financial burden on such a major expense,” Loria said.

Next, CU is developing a program to provide low-interest loans for septic tanks, many of which are failing or nonexistent in rural Quitman County homes. “At our annual meeting, we’re going to put more emphasis on encouraging them to take advantage of it, instead of having raw sewage out their front yard or in your backyard,” Dwight Barfield said.

Dwight and Loria Barfield emphasize that Magee and others at CU have been true partners in the community. “They need funds to continue the marvelous work that they’re doing,” Dwight Barfield said. “And I believe that when people hear this story, they’ll start jumping on board.”

Photo credit Rory Doyle