Jonestown, a community of 1,400 located in the heart of the North Mississippi Delta, daily struggles with such issues as high teen pregnancy and steep high school dropout rates. For these and other reasons, the Coahoma County town has had limited economic prospects.

Recently, however, a group of Mississippi State faculty members and representatives of the university's research and service units banded together to help Jonestown find new directions. Among the efforts:

• Social work teachers and students are helping lay plans for long-term social work services;
• John C. Stennis Institute of Government researchers are developing ways to improve municipal functions and joining in a partnership with nearby Coahoma Community College to promote job-training programs;
• Professionals with the School of Architecture's Small Town Center are proposing ways to transform an abandoned elementary school into a multipurpose community center; and
• MSU Extension Service specialists are working to turn a town bayou into a nature trail.

For first-term Mayor Joe Phillips, the combined efforts by MSU, CCC, and town residents mean one thing: hope for the future.

"This support is opening avenues that will offer positive results for Jonestown," he said. "I'm confident that we now have the ability to reach our goals for a better quality of life."

It was nearly three years ago when MSU social work professors Carolyn Bryant and Linda Southward first began working to make a difference in the rural community. They developed a plan to utilize the energy of social work majors for a town intervention effort.

With community input, Bryant developed a comprehensive building and improvement project that resulted in the town's acquisition of an old school. She also organized a community festival and a summer day camp.

The now-annual camp includes general sessions on reading, drama, and cooking, as well as specific teen issues of drug-use prevention, sexual abstinence and conflict resolution.