Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. during the Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting Thursday, Oct. 10, said he wanted to clarify how and why the city gives money to local religious groups, as well as to colleges and universities.

Flaggs said the clarification was needed after a meeting of the Fostoria Neighborhood Association where an attendee claimed the city had given $10 million of taxpayer funds to churches.

Flaggs spoke specifically about the distribution of $173,500 in funds that came from the Champions for Health Grant that was awarded to the City in 2021 to bring health literacy awareness to underserved populations in rural areas, specifically in the areas of COVID-19 and vaccinations. The grant was awarded from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health and was for a total of $2.4 million.

Over fiscal years ending 2021, 2022 and 2023, Flaggs said $173,500 of the $2.4 million grant was awarded to “faith-based organizations,” as “extensions” of organizations like churches that contribute community services in Vicksburg.

“Let me take this opportunity to clarify some misinformation that is in your community,” Flaggs said. “That (money) was never, never, never delivered to the churches. It was always to the faith-base of the churches. Some of them have the church’s name, but you can’t give money to churches. You can only give it to the extension of the churches.”

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website, the city “cannot use any part of a direct Federal grant to fund religious worship, instruction, or proselytization. Instead, organizations may use government money only to support the non-religious social services that they provide… Some faith-based organizations set up separate charitable organizations (so-called ‘501(c)(3) corporations’) to keep programs that receive government money separate from those that engage in inherently religious activities.”

According to city records pulled by Accounting Director Doug Whittington, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen in 2021 approved a total of $13,000 of the grant money to faith-based organizations, including:

• $1,000 each to Trinity Temple Baptist Church, Mt. Carmel Ministries of Vicksburg, New Beginning Church in Christ, Bright Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, Cool Springs Baptist Church, Faith Christian Center, Pleasant Green Baptist Church Vicksburg, Rose Hill Missionary Baptist Church, St. James AME Church, Triumphant Baptist Church and Word of Faith Christian Center; and
• $2,000 to the Vicksburg Ministerial Alliance.

In 2022, $125,000 of the grant money was awarded to:

• $1,000 to Greater Grove Street Missionary Baptist Church;
• $3,500 each to Oak Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, Gospel Temple Church, Mt. Zion M.B. Church, Spring Hill M.B. Church, Beech Grove Missionary Baptist Church, Bethel AME Church, China Grove No. 2, House of Peace Worship Church International, King of Kings Christian Center, Mt. Carmel M.B. Church, Pleasant Valley M.B. Church, Total Praise Ministries, Travelers Rest Baptist Church;
• $5,000 each to Cool Springs Baptist Church, Word of Faith Christian Center, Triumphant Baptist Church, Greater Rose Hill M.B. Church, Mt. Carmel Ministries, Bright Morning Star M.B. Church, Greater Grove Street M.B. Church, New Beginning of Vicksburg, Pleasant Green Baptist Church, St. James AME Church, Trinity Temple Baptist Church, Vicksburg Ministerial Alliance, Faith Christian Center; and
• $10,000 to Triumph Ministries, Inc.

In 2023, $35,500 of the grant money was distributed as follows:

• $1,000 each to Vicksburg Ministerial Alliance, Pleasant Valley M.B. Church, Trinity Temple Baptist Church, Bethel AME Church, House of Peace Worship Church International, Mt. Carmel Ministries, Word of Faith Christian Center, Beech Grove Missionary Baptist Church, Bright Morning Star M.B. Church, China Grove No. 2, Cool Springs Baptist Church, Gospel Temple Church, Greater Grove Street M.B. Church, King of Kings Christian Center, Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church, Mt. Olive M.B. Church, Mt. Zion M.B. Church, New Beginning of Vicksburg, Oak Chapel M.B. Church, Spring Hill M.B. Church, St. James AME Church, Total Praise Ministries, Triumphant Baptist Church, Vicksburg Ministerial Alliance;
• $1,500 to Trinity Temple Ministries; and
• $10,000 to Triumph Ministries, Inc.

Whittington also clarified that Champions for Health grant money awarded by the city to faith-based organizations was a payment for services, like putting on an event, as opposed to a donation.

According to city records, general fund distributions in the amount of $62,500 were also made to faith-based organizations during fiscal years ending 2021, 2022 and 2023 as follows: 

• FYE2021: $2,500 to New Beginning Church in Christ and $10,000 to Triumph Ministries, Inc. 
• FYE2022: $40,000 to Triumph Ministries, Inc. 
• FYE2023: $10,000 to Traveler’s Rest Baptist Church

All distributions had the memo “matching funds.”

Flaggs said money given to colleges and universities by the city are distributed based on the way those institutions reinvest in the community.

Flaggs said $11,650 has been given to Alcorn State University, while Jackson State University has received $2,250 in sponsorships. Whittington said these funds were disbursed from the fiscal year end 2024 general fund.

Flaggs said the city applies a test for how to distribute funds based on the individual school’s impact locally.

“For Alcorn State, $11,650 was given in sponsorships,” he said. “I’m told — and I’m just estimating and rounding off — in just two weekends, there was an estimated economic impact that was roughly a couple hundred thousand; spending in hotels, restaurants and et cetera. You can’t beat that nowhere in America; you can’t get a return on investment like that. So, that’s the reason why we put more money into Alcorn than we do Jackson State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and others.”

Whittington said the totals pulled for Alcorn and Jackson State include all vendors with the words “Alcorn” and “Jackson State” in their names.

Editor’s Note: For a list of how the City of Vicksburg distributed its $5.3 million in American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds, click here. 

Clarification: This post was updated on Oct. 14 to clarify the funds given to faith based organizations were distributed from the Champions for Health grant. Information in the article was gathered during the Oct. 10 board meeting and in interviews conducted after the meeting.

Correction: An earlier version of the article incorrectly stated the funds given to Alcorn State and Jackson State Universities were over a four year period. We apologize for the error.