by Molly Minta, Mississippi Today
June 20, 2025

The man in a Dallas Cowboys baseball hat would rather be home sleeping, but instead he was sitting in a car in the parking lot of the plasma donation center, eating Cheetos and waiting on his brother and friend inside. 

His family members regularly give their plasma – the liquid component of blood used in a variety of medical applications – for extra cash, but he said he never will. 

“That’s not too much my style,” he said just before 10 a.m. Tuesday, wiping the sweat from his face with a gray washcloth. “I just like to go to work and go back home.” 

The 37-year-old man said he’s happy with his job at a car wash, which he’s held for most of his adult life after dropping out of school in the ninth grade. He wished not to give his name, but described the freedom offered through his occupation as “music to me.”

“I can just work the way I want to work,” he said. 

Many of the others who visited the Jackson ImmunoTek Plasma Donation Center on a recent weekday morning haven’t struck the same when it comes to earning a living in this part of the city. 

The plasma donation center, located at the intersection of McDowell and Raymond roads on the cusp of west and south Jackson, is one of the few signs of life in an otherwise neglected zone. Family members and friends pick up and drop off their loved ones; people walk to the center from nearby neighborhoods. 

It’s almost as busy as the Cash Savers, a discount grocery store catty-cornered from the biotech center, where people often take the pre-paid debit cards they receive in exchange for their blood to buy groceries. The intersection also includes a gas station, a Rally’s fast food restaurant, an empty store that locals say used to sell car parts and an AutoZone. 

“They put it in the right spot of town,” said the man waiting for his brother outside the center. The hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

He was describing the plasma center’s convenient location on two main thoroughfares, but he’s right for another reason: This area of Jackson has a high concentration of poverty, few economic opportunities and is rapidly depopulating. 

The dire economic situation is top of mind for the city’s new leadership, as incoming Mayor John Horhn has pledged to reverse these trends, telling attendees at the South Jackson Parade and Festival earlier this year that it would be the first thing on his to-do list. 

Similar promises came with the center’s opening in 2022 inside a former pharmacy that closed during the Great Recession. That year, ImmunoTek boasted that it could bring an estimated economic boost of $5 million a year for a “part of Jackson that is undergoing revitalization,” according to the Mississippi Free Press. 

The company did not respond to inquiries from Mississippi Today, so the center’s exact economic impact in the years since is unknown. For now, ImmunoTek remains one of the newest establishments operating in this part of Jackson and was likely drawn by the same data points that make other investors look elsewhere. 

“It’s amazing how the blood of a group of people was used as a commodity at the beginning of this country and how the blood of this same group of people is still being a commodity today by them having to sell it in order to survive,” said Fredrick Womack, founder of Operation Good, a violence prevention organization. 

Womack said when his group has encountered people walking to ImmunoTek from the surrounding neighborhoods, he’s attempted to intercept them and help them find stable, long term employment.

Studies have shown that plasma donation centers are more likely to be located in areas with higher rates of poverty. In Jackson, the ImmunoTek center is located in a census tract where the median household income was $29,500 in 2020, according to data compiled by the city of Jackson. And CSL Plasma, another plasma donation company, has facilities in south and northwest Jackson. 

“Regardless of how you feel about the community, businesses – for lack of a better word – match with the outputs of the demographic,” said Jhai Keeton, the director of Jackson’s planning and development department. 

Keeton has been working to bring more development to west and south Jackson, but he said recruiting businesses to the area has proven difficult due in part to the concentration of poverty, by which he means lower median household incomes, less spending power and declining property values. 

“What I would love for the greater community to understand is that economics is all about data,” he said. “Every individual needs to look at themselves as a dataset, and when you have 100 individuals in one neighborhood, they need to look at themselves as a collective dataset.” 

When it opened, the center offered a larger payout for a plasma donation than it does now, said Darian Little, a cook at Buffalo Wild Wings who had donated blood Tuesday to get money for groceries. He said he used to get $100 per session, but that now the center offers him $40 for the first and $70 for the second. 

Nonetheless, the facility remained consistently busy throughout the morning. In the 45 or so minutes it takes, and even with the lower going rate, a donor can still earn 10 times the state’s minimum wage of $7.25-an-hour. 

Several people had stopped in to ImmunoTek on their way to work. One woman wore a blue Waffle House shirt. Another left the facility wearing nursing scrubs and a blue bandage on her arm. 

Others came because it was their only source of income. As the morning wore on, the center’s parking lot started to fill up with people.

Anderson Wallace was sitting on the curb, waiting for his pulse to fall below 100 so he could make a donation. He has visited ImmunoTek four times a month since he arrived in Jackson from Brooklyn, New York, earlier this year to visit his mom. 

If Wallace had been able to find employment, he wouldn’t be here, he said. But he’s applied everywhere – Amazon, UPS, and various jobs through Indeed.com – with no luck. 

“It’s too tough down here,” he said. “I gotta go back to New York.” 

Two sisters whose electricity had gone out this morning after they were late paying the bill had also tried to donate, but their iron was too low, so the center turned them away. One of them shrugged when asked what they were going to do instead. 

Deonte Woodson’s iron was also too low, so while his partner was inside giving a donation, he sat on the hood of his car and soothed their baby. The 30-year-old said he has a couple of businesses, though he didn’t give specifics, and his partner aspires to be a TV reporter. But for now, they need to donate plasma to make ends meet.

“She ain’t doing nothing now, just being a housewife,” he said. “For right now, I try to handle all the bills and take care of the kids.” 

Ella Moore, a former Dillard’s employee, was waiting in her father’s car to pick up her 32-year-old son who was inside. Moore said her son is in between construction jobs. A few years ago, the young man tried to gain steady employment by starting his own mobile car wash, but he got into an accident, Moore said, leaving him without a car.

Moore grew up in Jackson and has raised her kids here, but she can’t make sense of the city. She said she used to shop at a corner store by her house, but a few months ago, a man came in holding a rifle, and the shopkeeper did nothing. She doesn’t shop there anymore.

“I think people just don’t care no more, because ain’t nobody really listening to them,” she said. “It’s like they ask you a question and they say they’re gonna do this, they’re gonna do that, but in reality, they really don’t do it. You’re voicing your opinions on things, and there’s nothing happening.” 

When was the last time she felt Jackson’s leaders were listening? Moore pursed her lips. 

“Probably in the early 90s,” she said, citing an example of a skating rink on Terry Road that closed, then reopened after community uproar.

But a few years later, Moore went by the rink, and it was closed again. Now she feels like there’s nothing for her grandkids to do in south Jackson, she said, except for a small park up Raymond Road from the plasma donation center. 

She voted for Horhn, because she wanted to see change in Jackson, but she is skeptical that any will come. When she heard on the news that part of the Metrocenter Mall had a new owner, it just made her think about the last time people promised to redevelop the shopping center. 

“We shall see, we shall see, we shall see,” she said. “Cause that would’ve been a nice thing to have a skating rink right there, a water park for the kids. Another era.” 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post ‘We shall see’: Plasma donation center hailed as sign of ‘revitalization’ in southwest Jackson remains but a lifeline for residents with few job prospects appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

This article presents a mostly factual account of economic hardship and plasma donation in a low-income area of Jackson, emphasizing social and economic challenges faced by residents. The tone is sympathetic toward those struggling with poverty and skeptical of political promises, which aligns with a center-left perspective focused on economic inequality and community revitalization. However, it avoids partisan language or overt advocacy, reporting on the situation and voices of residents and local leaders with measured concern. The framing highlights systemic issues without pushing a strong ideological agenda, maintaining an overall centrist tone with a slight lean toward progressive social concerns.

by Simeon Gates, Mississippi Today
June 20, 2025

MAYHEW, Miss. – A summer camp for girls in northeast Mississippi is designed to help produce the next generation of skilled construction workers.

FORGE’s Girls Construction Camp brought together 12- to 15-year-old girls last week for mentorship, interactive workshops and hands-on experience in the traditionally male-dominated field of construction. 

This is the program’s second year, and  24 campers participated, double last year’s number. The camp took place at East Mississippi Community College’s Golden Triangle campus.

FORGE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of skilled trades among young people.

“We start out young, work with them as they grow, hoping to get more and more interested in construction and the skilled trades,” said Melinda Lowe, FORGE’s executive director.

Demand for workers in construction and other skilled trades is growing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the U.S. will have an average of 663,500 job openings per year in construction and extraction until 2033. This field has a median annual wage of $58,360.

Christee Roberson is owner and founder of West Point-based Graham Roofing. She is also a founding member of FORGE and a trade partner for the camp. She and her team taught the girls about roofing. 

Roberson said it’s important to introduce construction and other trades to young people, especially girls.

“I think, being a female in the industry and never knew that this was something I could do, it’s important for sure to show other females that they can be in the trades, too,” she said. 

Aveline Webb, 12, of Starkville was a first-time camper. 

“We have been building our boxes,” Webb said. “We put up drywall. We’ve done roofing, electrical, plumbing, all the stuff that you would need to build a building.”

In addition to the lessons, the campers heard from guest speakers and worked in groups on a central project – building and decorating food pantry boxes. 

Jada Brown, 15 from Lowndes County, attended the camp last year and came back as student mentor.

“What I hope they take away is knowing how to build and wanting to want to do it in the future, and see themselves doing it,” she said. 

Lowe said the camp provides useful information even for those who don’t enter construction.

“We already have one young lady who has been helping her family replace some shingles that were damaged in a recent storm,” Lowe said. “We’ve had others who have fixed the stoppers in their sink, because they learned here how to fix that.”

The food pantry boxes will be placed in and around Lowndes County in the coming weeks.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Girls learn construction skills at summer camp appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article provides straightforward reporting on a summer camp teaching construction skills to young girls, focusing on education, empowerment, and workforce development. It highlights the camp’s positive impact without promoting any partisan or ideological agenda. The language is neutral and fact-based, emphasizing the growing demand for skilled trades and the importance of encouraging female participation. There is no evident political framing or bias, as the piece centers on community, education, and economic opportunity rather than controversial or ideological issues.

by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today
June 20, 2025

Gov. Tate Reeves on Thursday signed the vast majority of the state’s budget bills into law but vetoed a handful of the measures, which finalizes the state’s $7.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. 

The governor wrote on social media that the budget is fiscally conservative and “essentially halts the growth of government.”

“In short, the $7.135 billion budget will help us get the job done on your behalf, and it will help us break new ground all across our state,” Reeves said. 

The budget for the next fiscal year is typically completed in the spring, but the Legislature adjourned its 2025 session earlier this year without agreeing on a budget due to Republican political infighting. The governor called lawmakers into a special session in May to pass a budget. 

The measures the governor vetoed were portions of the Department of Finance and Administration’s budget, parts of the Mississippi Development Authority’s budget, a portion of the State Health Department’s budget and a bill that attempted to give the Attorney General’s Office $2.5 million to combat human trafficking. 

The only bill the governor completely vetoed was a House bill that sought to allocate $2.5 million in excess revenues for the Attorney General’s Office to help victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation  

The state constitution gives the governor the power to set the parameters for what legislators can consider during a special session, not legislators. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and several senators argued that the legislation was outside of the governor’s special session parameters, but they passed it anyway. 

“All state action, including legislative power, must be exercised within the strict boundaries established by the Constitution,” Reeves wrote in his veto message. “Failure to recognize such limitations on power threatened to undermine the legitimacy of the rule of law — the very foundation of our Constitutional Republic.” 

The Mississippi Constitution also gives the governor the power to issue partial vetoes, or line-item vetoes, of appropriation bills, which the governor did for three other measures. 

One of those measures was a provision in the Mississippi State Department of Health’s budget that directed the state agency to send around $1.9 million to the Methodist Rehabilitation Center. 

After House members passed the bill, legislative staffers realized that the money could be a violation of federal law and regulations, placing Mississippi’s multi-billion-dollar Medicaid funding at risk. 

When the bill arrived in the Senate for consideration, senators were faced with the option of forcing the House back to the Capitol or sending a flawed bill to the governor for him to veto. They chose the latter. 

In the Department of Finance and Administration’s budget, the governor vetoed money for a project at the Mississippi Children’s Museum and LeFleur’s Bluff State Park. In the Mississippi Development Authority’s budget, Reeves vetoed $6.9 million for the Mississippi Main Street Revitalization Grant Program.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Belated budget: Gov. Reeves signs most spending bills into law appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

This article reports on Gov. Tate Reeves’ signing of most state budget bills and his vetoes, presenting his fiscal conservatism and constitutional arguments largely through his own statements and official actions. The tone is factual but highlights the governor’s emphasis on limited government growth and constitutional authority, reflecting a conservative viewpoint aligned with Reeves’ position. The coverage remains primarily descriptive without overt editorializing, but the framing of the vetoes—especially around fiscal conservatism and constitutional limits—leans subtly toward a center-right perspective by emphasizing government restraint and legal boundaries consistent with conservative principles.