The Alabama Center for Rural Organizing and Systemic Solutions (ACROSS) was born in 2023 in the aftermath of a natural disaster and an unimaginable tragedy that occurred only days after the storm in the little town of Camp Hill, Alabama. After one of the worst hailstorms in US history decimated the town, destroying hundreds of roofs and totaling ninety percent of the cars, many in the town were victims of a mass shooting that killed four and injured nearly forty people, including some who had been displaced by the storm.
Volunteers on the ground resolved to see the long-term recovery through even though they knew it was going to be a multi-year effort. They formed ACROSS to take on a myriad of issues in Alabama, with the primary mission being organizing around the disaster they had just experienced. The roots of the organization, however, run all the way back to the years staff and volunteers spent working around the world in places such as Ghana and Haiti. The people who would come together years later in East Alabama realized then that their home state and region had many of the same issues they were facing in both countries. Before ever meeting many of the people who now make up ACROSS resolved to one day find a way to work within Alabama to address the systemic issues that were failing their homes and communities in the rural south.
In facing disaster together all of these people found each other in a town of fewer than a thousand people. ACROSS is now headquartered in Camp Hill with future efforts also planned for the town of Parrish, Alabama.
