About Us
Mission, Philosphy, Vision, Core Values
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History
Located in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Community Impact, Inc. (CI) is the only grass roots community based advocacy, testing, educational and linkage organization in the Delta Region within the State of Mississippi. Several community activists founded CI in 1998: Charles Myles, the late Hazel Hendrix, and Mary J. Wilkerson. They were joined by Carlos M. Hall, John Meeks, Timothy Hureta, PhD, and Wendell E. Hawkins to comprise the initial Board of Directors.
CI received a one-year Ryan White Care Act Title III Planning Grant in September 2002 and a grant from the Gill Foundation for its Respect HIV/AIDS Youth Peer Education Initiative in 2003. CI, through personnel service contracts for outreach services provided by its Executive Director, has provided testing, counseling, and linkage services for several community health centers within its service area.
Community Impact, Inc., in spite of funding challenges, is the leader in the State of Mississippi's Greater Delta Region in delivery of testing, support, education, and advocacy services largely through its committed executive director and other volunteers. These services are provided to an impoverished African American and other at-risk community groups afflicted by high rates of HIV/AIDS, infant mortality, diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic illness, infectious diseases, and a range of preventable and painful conditions (Wheeler, 1971). Some of these conditions, widely observed in third world countries, had been thought to be manageable or to be eliminated in the US.
The first CI services were provided in Yazoo City in the fall of 1999 and shortly thereafter, requests from outside of Yazoo County for assistance, testing, educational materials, and referral assistance were received from throughout the Delta Region. By early spring of 2000, a team of volunteer caseworkers, social workers, and other providers had been assembled. The team developed and delivered flyers and other printed materials utilizing monies provided by the Executive Director/Co-Founder and other small donations, making a network of loosely tied together HIV/AIDS services available for the first time to residents of the Delta Region.
From these humble beginnings, Community Impact, Inc. has emerged as a vital, tough organization dedicated to providing HIV/AIDS/STD/Hepatitis-C prevention, testing, counseling, and linkage assessment and screening services. CI has managed to maintain strong ties into the larger health care community through the efforts, commitment and reputation of its Executive Director.
Community Impact has hosted several capacity building opportunities throughout the Mississippi Delta Region with: Getting the Message Out About HIV/AIDS/STD, November 1999; followed by Emerging Community Advocates Education and Training in 2000, 2001 and 2002 respectively in the cities of Yazoo City, Greenwood and Indianola; and Respect HIV/AIDS Youth Peer Education Initiative in 2003. CI has provided direct technical assistance to Antioch M. B. Church in Yazoo City, MS and Wesley United Methodist Church in Greenwood, MS in the areas of: 1) Leadership Development and 2) Organizational Development which lead to the establishment of faith-based organizations NEEDS Opportunities Addressed Here Outreach, Inc. (NOAH) and Wesley-Community Outreach Center, Inc., in November 2002 with both organizations receiving tax-exempt status in 2003,
Board of Directors/Advisory Board Members
Current
Tammie R. Woodall, LPN, M.S., Ph.D.(c)
Rev. Gregory A. Robertson, B.S.
Wilbert Jordan, M.D., MPH
Sandra Stringfellow, B.A.
Monica White, MPH
Juliette Sutter, LMSW, CTM
Ademola M. Omishakin, MPH, Ph.D., RPE, MBA
Note: Currently there are 5 vacancies.
Staff
Charles E. Myles, B.S., PFT, Executive Director
Wm D. King, M.D., J.D., Medical Director/Physician
Network Partners
Mississippi Department of Education, Jackson, MS
Mississippi Department of Health, STD/HIV Bureau, Jackson, MS
Healthy Teens Network, Washington, DC
Crossroad Center, Inc., Cincinnati, OH
Siloam International, Inc., Portland, OR
Past
Charles E. Myles, co-founder/president/board member 1999 2002
Mary J. Wilkerson, co-founder/board member 1999
Hazel L. Hendrix, co-founder/secretary/board member (deceased) 1999
Carlos M. Hall, board member 1999
Timothy R. Hureta, vice president/board member 1999
Wendell E. Hawkins, chair, finance committee/board member (deceased) 1999 - 2005
John Meeks, treasurer/board member 1999-2001
Board Committees
Executive Committee
Oversees operations of the board; often acts on behalf of the board during on-demand activities that occur between meetings and those acts are later presented for full board review; comprised of board president, other officers and/or committee chairs; and often performs evaluation of the chief executive.
Finance Committee
Review budgets initially prepared by staff, to help develop appropriate procedures for budget preparations (such as meaningful involvement by program coordinators), and on a consistency between the budget and the organizational plans; report to the board any financial irregularities, concerns, opportunities; recommend financial guidelines to the board (such as to establish a reserve fund or to obtain a line of credit for a specified amount); work with staff to design financial reports and ensure that reports are accurate and timely; oversee short and long term investments; recommend selection of the auditor and work with the auditor; and advise the executive director and other appropriate staff on financial priorities and information systems, depending on committee member(s) expertise.
Governance Committee
Ensures that the board understands the organization's mission, vision, values and goals; develop/updates membership responsibilities (job descriptions); identifies potential board members and maintains information about each candidate; observes and evaluates potential leaders within the board; strives for a diverse, representative board, evaluates board members' eligibility for re-election; cultivates and recruits officers and new board members; recommend a slate of officers to the board; judges objectively the qualifications of potential members; conducts board orientation sessions for new board members and to organize training sessions for the entire board; suggest new, non-board individuals for committee membership and coordinates and reports findings of the board's self-evaluation.
Development Committee
Oversees the organization's overall fundraising and, in particular, the fundraising done by the board. Plans and participates in ongoing and annual fund raising efforts; participates in other forms of resource development, such as exploration of earned income possibilities. Work with staff to establish a resource development plan that incorporates a series of appropriate vehicles, such as special events, direct mail, product sales, etc. Takes the lead in certain types of outreach initiatives, such as health fairs, a dinner/dance or hosting fundraising parties, etc. Monitor fundraising efforts to be sure that the ethical practices are in place that donors are acknowledged appropriately, and the fundraising initiatives are cost effective.
Personnel Committee
Guides development, review and revision of personnel policies and procedures for board approval, review and/or develop job descriptions, establish a salary structure, and annually review staff salaries and benefits packages. Personnel Committee also acts as a grievance board for employee complaints. It is preferable for the personnel committee to act only on formal written grievances against the executive director or when an employee formally appeals a decision by the executive director to the board. Leads evaluation of the chief executive; and assists chief executive with leadership and management matters.
Health and Research Committee
Program Committee
Oversee new program development or revision of existing programs (functioning and non-functioning); initiate and guide program evaluations, and facilitate discussions about program priorities for the agency. Sub-committees: Service/Program Development guides development of service delivery mechanisms; may include evaluation of the services; link between the board and the staff on program's activities. Marketing oversees development and implementation of the marketing plan, including identifying potential markets, their needs, how to meet those needs with products/services/programs, and how to promote/sell the program. Promotion and Sales promotes the organization's program and services to the community, including generating fees for those services. Evaluation ensures sound evaluation of products/services/programs, including (e.g., outcomes, goals, data, analysis and resulting adjustments).
State Community Advisory Board Members and Network Partners
- Mississippi
- Ohio
- Oregon
- California
Staff
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Annual Report and Financials
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Employment Opportunities & Internships
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State Strategic Plans
- Mississippi
- Ohio
- Oregon
- California