The Resilience Hub Project is the first of its kind in the City of Jackson, and the second for Mississippi. The HUB is developed to meet best practice recommendations from the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) and to provide both emergency and recovery services along with a range of social, economic, cultural and ecological co-benefits for the city’s most at-risk residents.

Our wonderful, long term partner, and a statutory partner on this project, Voice of Calvary Ministries (VOCM) provides their two buildings and grounds for the HUB’s location. VOCM is one of the most reliable local organizations serving communities for over 40 years and its campus is perceived as a trusted and familiar place.

The campus requires extensive renovations to create an emergency wing equipped with bathrooms, showers, locker rooms along with kitchen updates. The other part of the HUB, the educational building, will host offices and classrooms, which also require renovations to provide spaces for overflow housing needs. The roofs of both buildings will be replaced and used for solar panel installation and if feasible, rain water collection, which together with energy efficiency and weatherization upgrades. Additionally, a new construction of a 3-story elevator and staircase will be developed to secure access and double as a tornado shelter.

The HUB will provide three core categories of services during: (1) emergencies, (2) recovery, and (3) normal operations. It will offer a 24/7 shelter during emergencies for up to 150 people, with uninterrupted sources of energy from a microgrid and a redundant system of conventional generators. It will guarantee access to drinking water through an independent water well.

During the recovery period, access to overnight stays will continue. During normal times, the HUB will provide programs and services addressing a more broadly defined resilience. Specifically, the HUB will host education, technical assistance and workforce development activities (programs in solar installation and green infrastructure maintenance). The HUB will also provide free spaces for community convening.