PRIDE and POVERTY: Walton reaches out as tribe and community struggle(PHOTOS)

Ann Tucker knew one day she would have to answer the call.

"You always know that your community is going to call you," said Tucker, who is a 5th generation Walton County resident and chairwoman of the Muscogee Nation. "I have come back to Bruce to answer that call and help my community."

Tucker said the residents of Bruce are in terrible trouble: They are hungry, unemployed and no one even knows they exist.

She sees projects being done all over Walton County, but not in her community.

"We have serious needs that the tribe and the churches cannot address on our own," she said sitting in the 100-plus year old building that now serves as the home of the Muscogee Nation of Florida.

"This building has served as a school, voting district, church, museum, and so many other things over the years," Tucker said. "Our tribe has been in this area since 1869."

The Muscogee Nation is comprised of Eastern Creek Indians, who were forced to move from Alabama and have basically been invisible most of their existence.

"You can drive through this community and you don’t see what is here," Tucker said. "There are so many different clusters of people. They are hidden down these roads and pushed back in the woods."

Tucker doesn't even know if most of them have heating and lights, let alone how bad their situation really is.

"The people here are very proud," she said. "They don’t want anyone to know they are hurting."

Many of the people in Bruce don’t have any skills except carpentry, said Arlee Bush, who has lived in Bruce since 1991.

"This is a hunting and fishing community," she said. "These people have been here their whole lives and most of them are dependant on the river."

Bush, who is married to a tribe member, said the situation is dire and that the people really do need help.

"Most of the people who live here can't even draw unemployment," Bush said. "When times got tough they couldn’t pay their taxes and now they are not eligible for help."

Bush added that her husband has invited Commissioner Scott Brannon out to see what is going on in his district, but calls were never answered and their requests were ignored.

"Bruce is kind of looked at like the red-headed step child in Walton County," Bush said. "There is not much help out here for the community."

Brannon did not return phone calls for this article.

“People in the community are trying to help, but it’s just not enough," said Betty Cruse, who has lived in Bruce on and off since 1994.

"Prices keep going up in the stores and a lot of elderly people have to choose whether or not to buy food or get their medicine," she added. "That is a choice you shouldn’t have to make."

One of Cruse's grandchildren has recently had some medical problems. She recently called 911 and said it took emergency responders over 25 minutes to get to their home.

"We really need to get something done here," she said. "We don’t even have a fire department. I just know it would help the community if we had some of these services."

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 While the community is in peril, the one thing that could save this struggling area is something they have been fighting to achieve for years — the chance to be a federally recognized tribe.

"This is something that would greatly help what we have going on here," Tucker said. "With that status, it would change about 90 percent of the services we could apply for."

Federal recognition would allow Tucker and her community to tap into housing and education money, health services, the ability to participate in HMO's, and funding for land management.

"I have been fighting for this tribe for 25 years," Tucker said with a breaking voice. "I have lost a lot of things in life since I started this process. I don’t know if it’s because there are not enough of us or if we just don’t have the right things to offer. It's difficult."

In 2007, U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez gave the Muscogee Nation hope when they introduced the Muscogee Nation of Florida Federal Recognition Act.

While they patiently await the bill moving through Congress, Tucker knows there is still a long road ahead of her.

"We are one of two tribes east of the Mississippi waiting to be recognized," she said. "It has been a long process, and it still may be another 10 years until something happens."

In the meantime, Tucker has been working with members of the community to collect food and set up a pantry where they can store extra food and provide basic health services. The Tribe partnered with PanCare of Florida Inc. and the Bruce United Methodist Church to provide a health fair Jan. 23. The heath fair provided free blood pressure and cholesterol checks, eye exams, dental screenings, and insulin checks for the community.

Tucker said that about 71 people in need of help attended the fair, with most of them being children.

"If there were 30-35 children at the health fair," Tucker said, "imagine how many there are that we don’t know about."

The children that Tucker does not know about are the ones that she is concerned with the most.

"These children really need our help," she said. "I just hope we can find out who they are and what we can do to help them."

As of Feb. 1, Tucker said they have collected about $6,000 in funds.

In addition to the funds collected, Tucker has formed a community outreach program called Rural Relief.

Tucker said she plans to open a food pantry in a month. The outreach program also will have a computer station to help people find jobs.

"This is a great start," she said. "It's only the beginning, but it is a good place to begin."

To see photos taken while on a tour of Tuckers community, click here.