More than 3,000 Mississippi children are in foster care according to John Damon with Canopy Children's Solutions. He says the non-profit organization has diverted 4,000 kids from going into the foster care system over the past two years because of a partnership with Trustmark Bank. Damon says the bank has donated $1.5 million through a tax credit to provide counseling and other services to families where children can safely live with their parents or relatives.
"The legislature helped make this tax credit available in 2019, that businesses can take advantage of and direct a portion of their tax to non-profits who are missioned to help keep kids out of foster care," said Damon.
Thursday state officials joined Canopy staff and guests outside their Jackson headquarters to rename Canopy's lobby after Trustmark Bank. Duane Dewey is the bank's CEO in Jackson.
"There's a tremendous need out there. There's a section of the community that doesn't have access to all the services that Canopy offers and fills that need. We think again it makes for a better community, a stronger community, a better place to do business, a better place to live and work," said Dewey.
Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann talked about the extreme poverty Mississippi has experienced over the years. He says the funding that helps agencies like Canopy was doubled to $18 million last year, but it's not enough.
"Without the minuscule amount of money that we devote to his matter, we couldn't really look at ourselves in the mirror very well. But unless we continue to support them and increase the amount of support that we have in our private sector from our state, we will have forgotten our history," said Hosemann.
Mississippi has also received $3.3 million in pandemic relief funds to help older youth in foster care.
