Bill Graham / The Meridian StarAdrian Cross, executive director of the Meridian Freedom Project, center, works with Abrea Smith and Skylinn Conerly at the center recently. The organization aims to develop community leadership. 

Civic and community organizations serve a vital role to any city, and Meridian has numerous options for residents who want to get involved and help make the Queen City a better place.

In addition to participating, women often fill leadership positions in these organizations. Whether it’s training leaders, helping local children or keeping local treasures up and running, here are a few women making a difference in Meridian.

Kim Knight serves community through JA

Most members of Junior Auxiliary serve one provisional year and five active years before being given the option of becoming a lifetime member. Kim Knight did that, serving as president of Junior Auxiliary of Meridian during that stretch.

When the chapter’s most recent president was transferred to Topeka, Kansas, Knight was asked to resume her duties as president even though she had just been nominated to serve JA at the national level. She happily accepted, saying it was the right thing to do for an organization to which she had already dedicated six years of her life.

“How many times do you get a second chance at something?” Knight said. “It was neat to pick up where I left off.”

JA of Meridian is one of 98 chapters of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries, which, according to its website, “represents a serious endeavor on the part of women to be active and constructive community participants and to assume leadership roles in meeting community needs.” (www.najanet.org/who-we-are/) The chapter raises money to help local children and teachers, with its biggest fundraiser being its annual charity ball each February. When Knight first got involved, she knew about the organization only in passing, but she liked the idea of working with other women to help improve the lives of Meridian’s youth.

“I was asked to be in and dove in headfirst,” Knight recalled. “For me, the desire to be involved every year grew, and the more I got involved, the more exciting it was.”

Knight is no stranger to taking a leadership role. She participated in community service organizations in both high school and college and also competed in Miss America. For Knight, JA ended up being an outlet to continue serving others, and she said she’s always been drawn to leadership roles.

“I consider myself a problem-solver,” Knight said. “I like to lead people and make something better than when I found it. For me, it’s natural. Everyone gives their best — I don’t want anyone to think anyone doesn’t — but I’m always trying to find a way to motivate and encourage people so we’re all doing our best.”

Ultimately, the strength in JA of Meridian lies in its members, Knight said.

“Any individual can serve on their own, but collectively, when you get a group of women working together, the result is far greater than what anyone can achieve individually,” Knight said. “I love our collective result and our diversity. We have women of all ages, career paths, backgrounds and education levels. When you put all those people together, the ideas and ways we come together are magnified. I constantly feel challenged by people who know things I don’t know and have experiences I don’t have.”

Serving as president of Meridian’s JA chapter also means serving Meridian, and Knight said she’s eager to help make a positive impact on her city.

“I don’t think anyone here turns a blind eye to the problems,” Knight said. “We see things in our community that are unfortunate or things that hurt us. If we want our community to thrive and see those things solved, you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves. I can’t think of anything more important than investing in the lives of children, because we get to see the suits of that all around us. That’s been one of the most rewarding parts to me.”

Becky Glover and Debbie Ford inform voters

A group of local women began meeting in Lauderdale County in order to promote being politically active and informed. Eventually, they decided to formally become a local chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Becky Glover and Debbie Ford co-chair the League of Women Voters-East Central Mississippi, whose application to be a local unit was approved by the Mississippi League of Women Voters in February 2019. In January 2020, the chapter was approved to become an independent unit.

The league is non-partisan, is open to both women and men and “encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy,” according to its website. (https://www.lwv.org/about-us)

“We’re concerned with things that affect everyday people, like health care and education — the whole education process — and we’re concerned about our communities,” Ford said. “We felt the best way to make an impact, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, was to look into the League of Women Voters, and we felt like it was a match.”

Both Ford and Glover said it was important to the members to be part of an organization that seeks to educate and energize voters while doing so in a respectful and non-partisan way.

“We believe everyone in the community has a common ground,” Ford said. “We want what’s best for our community and state. If we can have some healthy and civil dialogues, we can come together on a lot of issues and make change.”

Said Glover, “We all came together because of issues that impact everyday people like us. We want to not only be able to study (the issues) in a non-partisan way, but also take action.”

Informing citizens on how to register to vote, as well as when and where to vote, is a major goal of the league, but Glover said they also hope to go beyond those two things.

“Those are the basics of what we want everyone to do, but we really want them to understand what the issues are and where they stand as a voting citizen on these issues — and where do the candidates stand,” Glover said. “A well-functioning society depends on educated voters.”

In addition to voting, Ford said making your voice heard in other ways is important to the league, too.

“There are also issues that come up while people are in office, and we want people to understand the best way to contact their officials and be heard,” Ford said.

Ultimately, both Ford and Glover hope the league can make a positive impact on East Mississippi.

“I like that we’re developing partnerships with other organizations,” Ford said. “We hopefully want to be action-oriented, to provide a place where people who are interested in the issues can come together and work for the community and the state.”

One of the things the league supports, Glover said, is open government that’s accountable and responsive to anyone regardless of political affiliation.

“I also believe it should listen to all citizens, even ones from different parties or no parties,” Glover said. “We’re not an echo chamber; we focus on the issues, and that really appeals to me. I like building diverse relationships with other groups and individuals whenever we can.”

Betty Lou Jones, a veteran of civic engagement

No stranger to leadership, Betty Lou Jones has helped in fundraising efforts for organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, Keep America Beautiful-Meridian, the American Heart Association and the Meridian Council for the Arts. She also serves as a member of the Mississippi Parole Board.

One organization near and dear to Jones’ heart is the Meridian Restoration Foundation, in which she’s been involved since 1971 and has served as president for the past eight years. The foundation raises money to keep Merrehope, the antebellum home on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, open to the public for weddings, receptions, parties and club meetings, as well as guided tours, according to its website. (http://www.merrehope.com/history.html)

After the last construction on the house took place in 1904, the house served mostly as rental property until a group of women expressed interest in the house to host their Federated Women’s Club meetings instead of having to drive to Enterprise. They borrowed $20,000 to purchase the house — which prevented it from being demolished — and began the foundation in order to solicit funds from the community to keep it up and running.

“The community really embraced the idea and project,” Jones said.

As president, Jones is continuing a women’s leadership tradition that goes back more than half a century. Merrehope is their legacy, and it’s one Jones enthusiastically embraces.

“Out of respect to their vision and dream, we hope to continue that spirit and embody the fact that (Merrehope) is a treasure that represents our history, our tradition and our people, and it should be saved,” Jones said. “It also preserves the future of our town. Hopefully we can be an example to others who can restore and preserve jewels in our community. The value of this house is sentimental, but we also make a big contribution to tourist attractions in this area.”

Jones said she enjoys being president of the Meridian Restoration Foundation because its cause means so much to her.

“I like the feeling of accomplishment, because it is an accomplishment to continue to exist,” Jones said. “There is still a need for this house and the purpose and mission it serves, but it has to have life — which means living, breathing volunteers and workers and donors to keep it open. Right now, this house needs care, because it’s 162 years old.”

Adrian Cross serves young people with Meridian Freedom Project

The Meridian Freedom Project aims to “create a corps of academically capable, socially conscious and mentally disciplined young leaders in Meridian,” according to its website. (http://themeridianfreedomproject.org/who-we-are#our-mission)

Adrian Cross, the MFP’s executive director, first joined the organization as a member of the board of directors before being promoted to director of operations in 2017. She’s been executive director starting this year, and Cross said serving an organization that aims to develop community leadership is a great way to leave a lasting impression on her community.

“It’s not just about an image of an organization or the fundraising capabilities, but it’s the lives that you’re impacting with the mission that you have,” Cross said.

Part of being a leader is embracing change, Cross said, and that includes thinking of new ways to make people aware of MFP’s mission.

“I’m just trying to be a game-changer, a life-changer, in so many ways,” Cross said.

“Changing the game in fundraising and trying to expand our reach and expose us to more so they can be aware of what we’re offering,” Cross said.

Cross said part of her drive as a leader is staying true to herself and using her talents to help others.

“You can be who you are and be comfortable, and love and accept who you are, and you can work in your passion,” Cross said. “The reason I’ve been so successful is because I’m comfortable, and I go into it as I am. I expect people to accept me as I am because I’m a genuine person who genuinely wants to help.”

That attitude is one she hopes trickles down to anyone involved in MFP.

“I feel like there’s so many people out there who may feel like people won’t accept them as they are, but that’s not true,” Cross said. “They’ve just got to put themselves out there and have that confidence in themselves that the message they have can help other people, and that’s what I’m doing.”

As a Meridian native, Cross said she feels honored to give back by serving as a leader of a civic organization.

“It’s just a blessing to serve the community that I’m a part of and came from, and to show people that I am a product of my community,” Cross said.