Dozens of defunct buildings line Terry Road in south Jackson. Business owners have been leaving the area for more than a decade. 

But one vacant bank may hold promise for the future. Come January, it will open as a different kind of bank – one where resources, referrals and health services are offered for free or low cost. 

Magnolia Medical Foundation, a network of five clinics and resource centers across the state that focus on providing holistic care to low-income Mississippians, is expanding to the most under-resourced part of Mississippi’s capital city. The bank will retain its layout: a drive-through where patients pick up prescriptions, a counter where tellers dole out supplies, such as diapers, and offices where patients meet with providers, social workers and other patient navigators. The bank will take walk-ins, as well as appointments.

“We all at some point in our life are able to make deposits, and sometimes, we’re just only able to make withdrawals,” said Dr. Erica Thompson, founder and executive director of the Magnolia Medical Foundation. “It’s important to have a space where you feel comfortable and you feel safe and you’re able to get the things you need.”

The expansion is made possible by a $200,000 donation from Molina Healthcare, a company based in Long Beach, California, that is a one of the entities that manages the care of Mississippi Medicaid beneficiaries. 

“We are grateful to be a part of the Magnolia Medical Foundation,” said Laurie Williams, assistant vice president of growth and member engagement at Molina Healthcare, during a press conference at the new space Monday. “Dr. Thompson, your vision has just always been epic from the very beginning … We’re not going to be last anymore.”

Mississippi ranked last in the nation for its rate of preterm births – and has failed every year for nearly two decades – a recent report card from March of Dimes showed. While the bank will serve everyone, regardless of insurance status, it will also have services focused on improving outcomes for women, such as pregnancy and birth support from doulas. 

Other patient navigators will include medical providers, mental health providers and social workers, who will help low-income people traverse the complex processes surrounding applications for benefit programs – or help them understand their rights in legal matters. Thompson hopes that businesses and community members will make “deposits” when they can by partnering with the bank, volunteering, making donations and adding to the services offered. 

“Just like a regular bank brings in their investment brokers and all that, we want to bring in other folks who are able to make an investment in south Jackson,” said Thompson. 

Providers at the Magnolia Medical Foundation Midtown clinic spend at least an hour with each patient, according to Belinda Mundora, the foundation’s project director. That’s more than triple the average amount of time family physicians spend with their patients. When providers spend more time with patients they strengthen patients’ trust in them and get a better sense of how circumstances such as unstable housing may influence physical and mental health. 

Kathryn Carroll Barham, a nurse practitioner currently working at the foundation’s Midtown clinic, said the work she does is more often social than medical. Carroll said she’s excited to continue that work in a place where the need for it is great. 

“That’s why I want to work in a place like this – that has something that’s so holistic, working with people who think about every part of the patient rather than just the physical aspect,” Carroll Barham said.  

The Midtown clinic also operates a food pantry Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thompson said she hopes to do food drops at least once a month at the new location. 

The foundation’s expansion couldn’t come at a more opportune time. Food Depot, the last remaining full-service grocery store in south Jackson, shuttered two weeks ago. Kroger and Piggly Wiggly of south Jackson closed in 2015. 

Living in a food desert means people either go without fresh meat and produce, or they travel to supermarkets where their tax dollars support cities other than their own. In these areas, local economies collapse and people tend to be sicker. 

Those effects are expected to be exacerbated by major changes to social safety net programs coming down the pipeline. Tens of millions of dollars previously covered by the federal government for programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid will shift to states, due to the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law by President Donald Trump over the summer. Experts predict this will force states to limit benefits, cap enrollment or shut down services altogether. 

Thompson knows these changes will impact most of the patients she sees. Jackson’s median income is $43,000 – well below the state median income of $54,000. Mississippi is among the poorest states in the nation. To be eligible for SNAP, individuals must make less than about $20,000 annually. New work requirements from the federal budget bill are expected to make it harder for eligible people to remain enrolled. 

“I always think about the scripture, ‘for such a time as this,’” Thompson said. “This is the perfect place for the storm.”

Anyone interested in partnering with Magnolia Medical Foundation’s new south Jackson bank can contact Erica Thompson at ethompson@magmedfound.org. Volunteers can sign up online.