An Oasis for Children

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Sledge’s New Resource Center

“There’s nothing in Sledge to do,” said one youth.

“It’s boring,” said another.

Welcome to Sledge, Miss., population about 500, one of five towns in Quitman County, where most students in the school system live below the poverty line — $22,000 annual income for a family of four — and where more businesses are shuttered than open.

Two of Sledge’s young residents, 12-year-old Jasmine and 14-year-old Toneca, heard the voices of their peers.

“They didn’t have any resource or anything fun to do,” says Toneca. “Sitting around every day, listening to the smaller ones’ conversations about their town, I knew something needed to be done quickly.”

As it happened, ChildFund was at that moment working with its area affiliate, the North Delta Youth Development Center, to implement a Parent Education and Mentoring Project in Quitman and Tallahatchie counties. The Quitman project would be sited at the southern end of the county in Lambert, where North Delta offers programs including after-school tutoring, college counseling, adult computer classes and other services.

Meanwhile, a few miles to the north in Sledge and with their friends’ voices in mind, Jasmine and Toneca considered their town library, which had been closed for a year. An idea hatched.

The pair approached Palestine Harper, a Sledge resident who they knew cared a great deal about the needs of children in the community. She arranged for the girls to meet with Robert Jamison, North Delta’s executive director.

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