Tutwiler Community Education Center

Melanie Powell
Outgoing Executive Director
Tutwiler Community Education Center

The Tutwiler Community Education Center envisions a community working together that will enrich the lives of children and families. This vision and rich history will pull you into TCEC.

For 34 years, the Tutwiler Community Education Center has been strengthening and enriching the lives of children and families by developing programs to address the needs of the community. TCEC began at the Tutwiler Clinic. In August of 1983, Sister Anne Brooks SNJM, D.O., and three other Catholic Sisters came to Tutwiler, MS, to reopen the Tutwiler Clinic.  Dr. Brooks espoused a holistic approach to medicine. She believed that social and environmental problems were affecting the community. In September of 1987, Sister Maureen Delaney, SNJM, came from Oakland, California, to Tutwiler and joined Dr. Anne Brooks, D.O. at the Tutwiler Clinic and started the Outreach Program.

The Tutwiler Community Education Center was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1987. An old building in downtown Tutwiler was purchased, reconstructed, and opened in June 1992 thanks to funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and generous donations from people all over the United States who learned about the Tutwiler Clinic through magazine articles and the September 1990 60 Minutes Program about Tutwiler.

Today, we offer an after-school program for youth ages 7-12, provide a safe haven for teens at Teen Night to express themselves, teach music lessons, feed senior citizens weekly, and offer work experience opportunities for local teens. We also support the award-winning Tutwiler Quilters Program. This Program helps African-American women in the Mississippi Delta area use their quilt-making skills to help support themselves and their families. The Tutwiler Community Education Center is a hidden treasure in the heart of the Mississippi Delta.

Related Articles

A message from your executive director…

February 29, 2024

A warm hello to our esteemed members and friends.  This edition of The Ally seeks to celebrate the rich tapestry that February brings by recognizing Black History Month and other notable events that shape this dynamic month.

Nonprofit Member Spotlight | Family Biz Builder

February 29, 2024

Family Biz Builder (FBB) is a transformative force in Tunica County, Mississippi. Since 2014, FBB, a compassionate 501(c)(3) nonprofit youth training and development organization, has been the guiding light for countless low-income, at-risk children aged 5-17 and their families across Tunica, Coahoma, and Desoto Counties.

Nonprofit Member Spotlight | Alluvial Collective

February 29, 2024

Cultivating belonging and wholeness in the world

Friends and Partners,

I’m grateful to be connected to you in this season of celebration and acknowledgment of Black history.