Background

Today and Beyond...

Hands On Gulf Coast, an independent affiliate integrally and permanently a part of the Mississippi community, has grown and expanded to address not only disaster recovery but other critical needs in our communities.  Because of this, we started in 2010 to do business as Hands On Mississippi to encompass our true reach of service and focus.  

Our current program areas include:

  • Historic Home Restoration – provides restoration services to homes of historic value.
  • Green Space Management – community clean-up, clear walking trails, eradicate invasive species, and preserve the local environment.
  • Mentoring and Tutoring – provides mentoring, education enrichment programs, arts, and sports, fitness and recreation programs after school and during the summer.
  • Career Training – career development programs to the adults of the community.
  • Wildlife Conservation – focuses on preserving the natural habitat and the natural beauty of the Gulf Coast.
  • Vulnerable populations – works with local homeless day centers to create a community through direct service, special events and programming.
  • Immigrant populations – provide service to non-English speaking coastal residents to ensure inclusion in coastal events and services
  • Service Days – focus on designing and implementing community projects and National Days of Service.

Centrally located in Gulfport on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Hands On Mississippi is dedicated to meeting the critical needs of our communities through volunteerism. 

Early Beginnings...

Originally Hands on Network, we began work on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2005 as a direct response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.  When in 2007 Hands On Network merged with the Points of Light Foundation - creating this country's largest volunteer engagement organization known as POLHON - Hands on Gulf Coast became an affiliate of POLHON while forming its own organization solely focused on Mississippi. With the assistance of POLHON, an aggressive plan was devised that would enable our operation to became a reality in November 2008.