The fourth day of the 2025 Truth, Poverty and Democracy Tour swung through Mississippi’s Delta region, hearing concerns from health care workers and residents as federal funding cuts for individual health care loom on the horizon.
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Mississippi tour, which was designed for community leaders, legislators and representatives from aid groups to hear about the challenges facing people who live in underserved communities, had an active audience in Belzoni on Oct. 3.
Following a discussion of transportation issues in the health care desert that encompasses a large part of the Delta region, questions turned to solutions for the lack of funding for local health care options. Mississippi state Rep. Otis Anthony was asked specifically about the $50 billion available through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, which will be paid out each year over a five-year period from 2026 to 2030. The application period for the initial $10 billion in funding, which was authorized as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, opened in September 2025.
“Are the right people at those tables saying we need more than just transportation?” asked Kizmet Cleveland, executive director of the Mississippi Community Health Workers Association. “We know that we know what’s going on in our communities. That’s what community health workers do. We know exactly some of the reasons why there’s a lack. But are we all at the tables when they’re making these decisions?”
Anthony’s reply was not reassuring.
“Lord, be with me,” he began. “Our 2nd Congressional District congressman [Bennie G. Thompson] was not informed of or invited to the meeting. If he wasn’t invited, we weren’t invited either. And I’m saying it very nicely. So that’s the answer to your question.”
But even with the current state of political discourse in heavily conservative Mississippi, Anthony indicated he was not going to let that funding go without a fight.
“Now, just because we weren’t invited doesn’t mean we can’t knock on the door,” he said.
Waikinya Clanton, director of the SPLC’s Mississippi state office, said the urgency of the health care need in the Delta region is the reason both tours — this year’s and last year’s — have included a session there.
“That has been the anchor for our tour,” Clanton said. “The reason that we’re going to so many places across the state is because we believe in the power of the people. We believe in the power of people’s voices and their stories. We’re utilizing this tour as an opportunity to build what we’re calling the people’s agenda.”
Image at top: Kismet Cleveland, executive director of the Mississippi Community Health Workers Association, speaks during a session in Belzoni, Mississippi, on Oct. 3, 2025, the fourth day of the SPLC’s Truth, Poverty and Democracy Tour. (Credit: Dwayne Fatherree)
