Night with the Stars raises funds for homelessness

When Tamatha Crowson, manager of Snap Fitness and fitness director at 180 Healthcare, first moved to Cape Girardeau with her two teenage sons in 2015, she struggled financially as she worked to establish herself and her career in the community. Over a six-month period, Community Caring Council supported Crowson through the Council's rental assistance program, helping her successfully transition to financial stability. That assistance was enough to help her get back on her feet.

"Without them, I don't know what I would've done," Crowson says.

Crowson had a life goal of competing in a ballroom dance competition. When Dwana Leible, event coordinator of "Dancing with Show Me Stars," called to invite her to participate in this year's event, she accepted the invitation enthusiastically.

"This is the best of both worlds -- not only can I fulfill a dream, I can give back to an organization that pretty much saved my rear end," she says.

Community Caring Council assists people who are experiencing a housing crisis, such as those being evicted, fleeing domestic violence, experiencing homelessness or recovering from a natural disaster. In 2017, Community Caring Council helped 239 families in Scott City and Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties find permanent housing.

Leible has seen the effects of homelessness on people in the Southeast Missouri community while working at Community Caring Council. Through organizing Dancing with Show Me Stars, she hopes to bring awareness to the community about the problem of homelessness in Southeast Missouri.

"Co-workers showing up to work every day or kids showing up to school every day does not mean they are not suffering from homelessness," Leible says. She says anyone can be at risk for homelessness because of medical bills, loss of their spouse or loss of a job.

This is where Community Caring Council can help.

"They've found their self in this situation and sometimes they just need help to get back on their feet and live in the community," Leible says some of the people whom she works with on a daily basis. "We want to help set them up for success, and we want to help them to sustain that success."

Community Caring Council is a support for those who need assistance. Services they offer include helping people write resumes, locating job opportunities, setting up interviews and providing needs like special shoes or tools to help the person succeed at a job. The Council can also help people acquire a bus pass or attain copies of their birth certificate or photo ID. Community Caring Council also offers senior services, youth development programs and other health-related activities.

This year's "Dancing with Show Me Stars" will feature nationally-known choreographers and dancers Dmitry and Jenya Chaplin and Anna Trebunskaya from ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." Trebunskaya's partner, Oleksandr Kamnieb, also will be in attendance. A total of 13 local stars will perform, and there will be three winners of the night: one winner chosen by the judges for technicality and performance, an audience choice winner who receives the most votes during the evening and the overall winner who raises the most money for the cause. Audience members can vote for a specific local star by donating money; $1 is one vote. One hundred percent of proceeds from the night and the fundraisers surrounding it go to Community Caring Council to provide financial assistance to people who are experiencing a housing crisis within the Council's service areas.

The local stars, many of whom began practicing in January 2018, each gather their own costumes and learn a dance. This year's show will include ballroom dancing, hip-hop and African tribal dancing. Professional instructors from Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky have created original choreography for the performances.

"A lot of people are able to cut a big check, a lot of people are able to offer services," says Crystal Hodges of why she wanted to get involved with "Dancing with Show Me Stars" as a choreographer, instructor and partner. "I am in that income bracket where maybe a couple of paychecks or something, and I might be somebody needing help someday. So I use what I know to help out."

Dr. Carlos Vargas, president of Southeast Missouri State University and one of the local stars performing in this year's competition, also wanted to contribute to this important community need, despite his self-described "lack of rhythm" that might cause him to "look a little funny" during his performance.

The cause, he says, is worth it.

"Learning about some of the students in the past and in my prior institutions, I've seen students who literally are attending classes and they're living sometimes in their own car," Vargas says. "So it's just really powerful, the idea that there are people out there that just don't have a place to live in. Whatever we can do to help them is so important."