Greene County Democrat

Tag: Federation of Southern Cooperatives

  • Unity In The Community

     

    On Monday, November 24, 2025 a cooperative effort between the Black Belt Community Foundation, ASAC Farmers, Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Greene Count HealthCare System Foundation, and Woman To Woman, Inc. provided bags of groceries along with fresh collard greens to citizens of Greene County. Many homes and families were served. The aim was to provide meals and reduce food insecurity during the holiday season.
    The Chief of Police, Reverend Kendrick Howell, and his department, provided police protection to ensure a smooth traffic flow and helped to reduce congestion.
    The volunteers shown above (Left to Right) Shelia Daniels, Darlene Robinson, Johnnie Knott, Calvin Knott, Mary McInnis, Terrance Bell, Pinna Hines, Barbara Carpenter, and Judy Spree. Not shown Bernice Barnes, Bessie “Bone” Davis, Willie Mae Davis, Annie Gaines, and Geraldine Walton.

  • Eutaw City Council takes small steps to remedy possible financial deficits

    At its regular meeting on June 11, 2024, the Eutaw City Council took some small, measured steps to increase income and reduce expenses to complete the fiscal year on September 30, 2024, without a deficit.

    In the Old Business section of the agenda, the Council reaffirmed its decision not to allow city vehicles, including police cars, to be driven home by city employees. Councilman Woodruff also asked if the city’s insurance coverage covered the police car used for special patrols at the RockTenn facility. Chief Tommy Johnson said that RockTenn was providing insurance coverage for the special patrols. Woodruff asked that evidence of the coverage be provided by to City Attorney.

    The Council agreed to allow not profit organizations, with a 501c 3 IRS status, who are holding a non-public event, to use the R. H. Young Community Center space at 50% of the regular fee, twice in a 12-month period, after providing documentation of their tax-exempt status.

    Agreed to provide up to $65 a month toward the utilities expenses for the Storm Shelter on the Lewiston Road. The shelter is in the Eutaw fire district. The shelter can accommodate 125 people and can serve people driving through the area in case of a storm.

    The Council received financial reports, compiled by staff and Financial Adviser, Ralph Liverman, on all bank accounts for the first seven months of the fiscal year ending April 30, 2024. All accounts show a positive balance.

    Ms. Giles made a request on behalf of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives to use the cafeteria/kitchen part of the R. H. Community Center (former Carver School), including the cold storage area, to process and package vegetables from local farmers and cooperatives for sale to commercial buyers. The Council requested that the Federation provide a detailed written proposal for the space they need, improvements they plan to make and the financial compensation they are proposing to pay the city for use of the space..

    In other actions, the Eutaw City Council:

    • Received a proposal from the Mayor to Sheriff Benison for matching funds for state approved road construction projects, including $30,000 for the Streetscape Project and $ 196,873 for the paving of 1.34 miles of the Lower Gainesville Road from Highway 11 to the city limits. The City requested a total of $226,873 in electronic bingo funds from the Sheriff.

    • Agreed to a $200 sponsorship for the Miss Black Alabama Talented Teen Pageant to be held at the Renaissance Theater in Eutaw.

    • Agreed to purchase U. S. and Alabama flags for the council room and outside flagpole.

    • Agreed to travel, registration and per diem for Angela Bonner and Barbara Collins to attend AL 911 training at Gulf Shores in October 2024.

    • Approved paying of the outstanding bills.

    The Council tabled consideration of raising Water, Sewer and Garbage rates until the next work session to allow for studying prior proposals to raise the rates gradually over the next five years to cover all expenses of the water and sewer systems. The Financial Adviser has urged consideration of an increase in these rates to cover expenses for these city services.

    Mayor Johnson announced that there will be a ribbon cutting for the new Eutaw mural on the side of a building adjoining City Hall at 9:00 AM on June 12, 2024. She announced a retirement celebration on June 28 at 11:00AM for Wilma Wedgeworth, long time custodian at the City Hall and William Smith, police officer. She also announced that Police Officer Carter would be issuing citations for residents who have not maintained their properties and for abandoned vehicles that do not have a current license tags, parked on the streets or in lots.

    Councilwoman Valerie Watkins said she paid back the city for travel reimbursements she received for trips that she went on riding in other’s cars. She said it was unethical for council members to receive mileage for trips that they did not drive their vehicle to attend.

    Residents raised questions as to why the Lock 7 City Park was closed. Mayor Johnson said they were trying to patch holes in the road and until then it would be locked. She said they have ordered the materials to fix the road at the park, but the materials have not been delivered to the city yet.

    The Chamber of Commerce announced that they were having a movie night on the Courthouse grounds on Friday June 21st at 8:00 PM.

  • January 13 deadline for USDA Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) is fast approaching

    The January 13, 2024, application deadline for the USDA Discrimination Financial Assistance Program is coming soon. When you get this newspaper there will be less than two weeks left for farmers, who were discriminated against in seeking a farm loan before January 1, 2021, to file the required 40-page application for consideration for a monetary settlement for their mistreatment.

    The $2.2 billion dollar program is authorized in Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in August 2022.

    The financial payout will be from a minimum to a maximum of $500,000 for each claim. The minimum will be determined by the total number of applications approved, the severity of the discrimination experienced and the financial loss to the farmer from the discrimination.

    The application form allows the farmer to describe up to ten incidents of discrimination and the economic losses that occurred as a result. The application also requires documentation of a farmer’s experience, farm location, loan forms and correspondence with USDA farm loan agencies, as well as other relevant information. In cases where documents do not exist, the farmer may submit declarations from non-relatives, attesting to various.
    aspects of what happened.

    The DFAP application and background information is available at the website: http://www.22007apply.gov. The application can be submitted on-line or in written form. It takes four to six hours to complete an application.

    There are eight cooperating organizations, including the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Rural Coalition, Inter-Tribal Agriculture Council, Farmers Legal Action Group, that have been contracted by USDA to provide technical assistance and advice to farmers in filling out and submitting their applications. There is no charge for the services of these organizations.

    The Federation has staff in seven southern states: South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, that are working to assist farmers in submitting their applications. You can reach the Federation through the toll-free number: 1-888-533-3271 or on their website at http://www.federation.coop.

    The Federation has set January 5, 2024, as the deadline for receiving new applications. After that date the Federation will refer farmers to regional hub organizations that may be able to help.

  • Newswire : Groups call for immediate implementation of Emergency Relief for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Farmers and Ranchers on final passage of American Rescue Plan

    On behalf of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, Rural Coalition and many other organizations who support the groundbreaking Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act, we congratulate Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Ben Ray Luján (D- NM), Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), House Agriculture Chairman David Scott (D-GA) and all others who won inclusion of this historic relief in the final COVID Emergency Budget Reconciliation Package. We urge all members of the US House to vote for final passage of the full package in the US House of Representatives. The bill provides $5 billion to farmers of color with $4 billion going towards direct relief payments to farmers of color struggling with farm loan debt and help with responding to the economic effects of the pandemic.  Fighting to rebound economically, Black farmers like James Childs Jr., a member of the Federation, have experienced the worst for his small farm in Greene County, Alabama. He stated, “We lost some customers, and we now have to do more door to door to get rid of the produce we can’t sell. We lost about 20% of our farm income. We need that income to pay our land lease.”   The bill will use the remaining $1 billion to support USDA programs to address systemic racism and provide technical and legal support for agricultural communities and farmers like Childs. The bill also promises debt forgiveness for Black farmers who filed claims under Pigford v. Glickman class action discrimination suit filed against USDA. “After decades of inequitable treatment by USDA, this bill is a critical step to mitigating years of discrimination, neglect and limited services by USDA that have been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Rural Coalition Chairperson John Zippert. “We strongly urge all members of the US House to quickly complete final passage of the full Emergency Budget Reconciliation Package which is critical for all rural communities. And we urge the US Department of Agriculture to work swiftly to speed the debt relief and targeted technical assistance that this nation’s Black, Indigenous and People of Color producers intensely need in the face of this pandemic.” Rudy Arredondo, President of the National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association noted that “We are glad to see that this Congress, with a long history of providing generous debt and disaster relief to the agriculture sector has finally opened the door to the farmers who did not benefit from the kinds of federal assistance other producers received and require to survive. At long last, this nation will extend the relief this diverse sector of producers deserves to support their families, contribute to their communities and transfer farmland and the farming vocation to future generations.” “This emergency assistance for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers is a long time in coming. Passage of this omnibus bill will finally provide relief on the scale needed to address the cumulative impact of continuing discrimination and reverse the persistent decline of BIPOC farmers and the disruption of their local food economies, said Savonala Horne, Esq., director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project. “This well-timed relief also benefits rural communities burdened by the COVID-19 Pandemic. We stand ready to work with Secretary Vilsack and the USDA to swiftly and wisely implement these programs in a manner that speeds relief and constructs the support structure needed to ensure success.” “The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 signifies an important first step in addressing the invisibility and interminable racism experienced by black farmers and other underrepresented farmers. Although many black farmers and landowners are now prematurely deceased or no longer viable farmers, many black families across our nation still have hope that their children and grandchildren will become successful landowners, farmers, entrepreneurs, and more,” stated Gary R. Redding, chairperson of the Concerned Citizens of Tillery. “The Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, a member of the Rural Coalition and led by Gary R. Grant, hope that the Act’s debt relief funds, grants, education and training, and other forms of assistance will not be undermined and weakened like the New Deal Farm Project of the 1930s. Many of the children and grandchildren of black farmers are still paying for debts that were created by racism at USDA. We will continue to be united for the survival and viability of black farmers and other underrepresented farmers.”

  • Federation steps in to halt Wendy Hills foreclosure

    Minutes before the foreclosure sale on Thursday, December 15, 2016, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, PLBA Housing Development Corporation and USDA Rural Development reached an agreement to sell the Wendy Hills Subdivision to the Federation. This averted the foreclosure sale, which was set for 11:00 AM at the Courthouse steps in Livingston, Alabama.
    “We are pleased that we were able to secure funding to purchase Wendy Hills and avoid a foreclosure which would have caused an untold upheaval to the forty families living there. We want to continue to provide good housing for very low income people in Sumter County, which was the original intent and goal of Wendy Hills,” said Cornelius Blanding, Federation Executive Director.
    Blanding continued, “ We know that we have to make some improvements to the property to bring it up to standards. We plan to secure financing for these improvements to the apartments as well as insure fire protection and safety for all of the residents.” “Our first step will be to insure the continued rental assistance, currently provided by HUD, to allow very low income persons to live in north Sumter County,” said Blanding.
    Commissioner Drusilla Jackson, whose district includes the Wendy Hills Subdivision, said “ I was very concerned about this foreclosure and its impact on people in my district. I pledge to assist the Federation in any way I can to help insure that the housing is maintained for the residents who live there.”
    The Wendy Hills Subdivision currently consists of 36 units, 10 one bedroom, 8 two bedroom, 8 three bedroom and 10 four bedroom apartments; an office and a playground area. Fire destroyed four of the original 40 units and they have not been rebuilt.
    Mayor Carrie Fulghum of the Town of Gainesville and General Manager of the PLBA Housing Development Corporation said “ I am glad, as mayor of the closest town, that we were able to prevent the foreclosure of Wendy Hills and I am dedicated to insuring a safe and secure place for the residents of the Subdivision.”
    For more information contact: Cornelius Blanding at 404/765-0991 or cornelius@federation.coop