Dr. Robert D. Bullard Returns to Elba to Support Shiloh’s Fight for Justice

On August 5th, 2025, Dr. Robert D. Bullard returned to his hometown of Elba, Alabama, to deliver a powerful message and a meaningful gift. Under the threat of a flood watch looming over Southeast Alabama, he presented the Shiloh Community Center with a $50,000 check to support its ongoing efforts to fight what he calls “highway robbery”. Shiloh residents have been burdened by severe and persistent flooding caused by the flawed U.S. Highway 84 expansion project. 

The highway has rerouted water directly into homes, businesses, and family properties. The donation, which came directly Dr. Bullard’s 2024 Urban Land Institute (ULI) $100,000 Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, was described as “a small down payment” toward justice for the Shiloh community.

“The six plus years of flooding in Shiloh is not a natural disaster, but a human-made disaster created by a flawed highway,” Dr. Bullard said. “The road has been allowed to flood homes, properties, and businesses-stealing residents’ intergenerational wealth.”

The Shiloh Community Center, a nonprofit hub for civic engagement and disaster response, has been at the forefront of this environmental justice battle. Dr. Bullard’s contribution strengthens its capacity to mobilize legal, political, and public support for long-overdue compensation and infrastructure change.

“I’m asking others who care about hard-working homeowners holding on to their property and inheritance to make a donation to the Center and show Americans still care about our Fifth Amendment rights that prohibit government from taking people’s property without just compensation,” Dr. Bullard urged. “America, we are better than this.”

Anyone interested in donating should visit the Shiloh Community Center website.

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