Mississippi Transplant: Caitlin Brooking

"I came to Mississippi with ideas, energy, and eagerness, and Mississippi wrenched my heart open, and still challenges me to keep it open every day."

What does it mean to call Mississippi home? Why do people choose to leave or live in this weird, wonderful, and sometimes infuriating place? Today we hear from CEO and President of the Refill Jackson Initiative, Caitlin Brooking, who first moved to the Gulf Coast to help start an AmeriCorps program to rebuild East Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina. Caitlin has built a life and career in Jackson that is rooted in community service and creativity.

Originally from Massachusetts, Caitlin got to Jackson “as soon as she could.”

Where are you from?

Methuen, Massachusetts—a small city located in the northeast part of the state. It was a textile mill town on the banks of the mighty, meandering Merrimack River—my most memorable field trip was visiting the Textile Museum and learning about the wonders and horrors of the Industrial Revolution.

When did you move to Mississippi and why did you move here?

I arrived in Biloxi, Mississippi on March 6, 2007 to spend the next two years at “hurricane camp”—helping to start an AmeriCorps program to rebuild East Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina. We had a construction program, and also did every kind of community work imaginable—building green spaces and community gardens, working in schools and after-school programs, rescuing animals and doing trap-neuter-release projects, working with single moms and elderly residents, case management, mold remediation—the whole shebang. I learned a lot about different ways to get dehydrated. 

A few years ago, a sassy young idealist asked me, “Do you think you actually did any good on the Coast after Katrina?” and all I could say is, I damn sure hope so. It was the first time I realized that sometimes, the people who know how to fix things don’t quite exist yet—it was a wild, terrifying, devastating and jubilant ride. 

What does “home” mean to you? How does Mississippi fit into that definition?

Home is where you can wear pants without buttons and belly laugh as loud as you want. I’ve been able to find home all over the state from Biloxi to Oxford, but my loudest belly laughs emanate from Jackson, my beloved chosen hometown.

Left: Caitlin maintaining the yard at the volunteer base in Biloxi. Right: Caitlin and Ms. Sandra, another volunteer, doing mold remediation on a home in Biloxi, circa 2008.