An effort paying off

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Martha Ellen Black measures progress in increments.

A teen mother gets a GED. A man who habitually batters the women in his life learns something about respect for others. Or an unemployed mother gains the skills needed to land a job that can support her family.

One person and family at a time, Black and her staff at the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center are trying to make life just a little better for people in Mississippi County.

The effort is beginning to pay off, Black said. While Mississippi County remains one of the poorest in Missouri, with poverty rates double the state and national averages, the 2007 Missouri Kids Count ranking rated with Mississippi County 97th out of 115 counties, up from 113th just a few years ago.

But Black's vision doesn't stop at the Mississippi County line. She's the Missouri coordinator for the Mississippi Delta Grassroots Caucus, an organization dedicated to bringing economic development to a region extending from Cape Girardeau south to New Orleans. Residents across the region often have more in common with each other than they do with their respective states, Black said.

"It is a really good way to inform a whole area," she said. "Our needs are so similar."

The caucus brings together community activists, educators and local public officials, "people who know what is happening in their communities," she said. "The goal is to create a greater understanding among the Delta itself."

The caucus has an ambitious agenda, from recruiting industry through tax credits and developing transportation networks, including the Interstate 69 and Interstate 66 corridors, to greater access to health care and education.

The caucus seeks to increase its clout by enlisting the support of politicians without being partisan, Black said. "We are about advocacy and education for the Mississippi Delta," she said.

Black's efforts both at the local level and for the region have earned her the admiration of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau. "The thing I like so much is her ability to identify the challenges," Emerson said. "She is a visionary, and when she gets an idea, she can identify exactly how to get that accomplished."

The grassroots caucus complements the work of the congressional Delta Regional Caucus and the Delta Regional Authority, Emerson said. While the congressional group and the authority can provide the support, the grassroots caucus helps spread information about specific solutions and programs. "it is important to identify the solutions that work and replicate their success," Emerson said. "Sometimes there is no need to reinvent the wheel, but we have to communicate and share our ideas and experiences."

The Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center is one idea that is gaining praise not just from Emerson but from other leaders of the caucus as well. The center was founded by a group of Mississippi County residents led by Joe Sorrells and Jim Winchester. Winchester died just before the center, originally known as the Epworth Bootheel Center, opened in March 1992.

"They just saw the plight of families and wanted to do something to improve that plight," Black said. Black is a former Peace Corps volunteer who holds a doctorate in education with a specialty in emotionally disturbed behavior.

The center's name was changed in 1997 to honor the mother of the founders of the Methodist Church, to which the center has strong ties. Susanna Wesley was dedicated to education, drawing criticism in 1711 for reading sermons to her family, servants and their families to uplift and educate them.

There are no sermons at the Susanna Wesley center. But there is a 24-station computer lab for instruction and practice, GED classes for teens and adults, a "batterers intervention program" that gives 26 weeks of education to people convicted of domestic violence and help for the victims of domestic violence as well.

The key principle being taught in the intervention program is "you can't have a relationship without respect," Black said. "The court system has punished these people, but the court system doesn't change behavior."

The center has a staff of 20. It had a staff of 30 before the 36-child day-care center was forced to close in July. In addition to the location in East Prairie, there's another location in Charleston and a satellite location at the Charleston Housing Authority.

The top staff have a long history at the center, with many working with Black for 10 years or more.

Willie Epps, the GED coordinator from Charleston, sees the results in his own neighborhood. The center has changed the lives of people who would be dead or in prison today, he said. "When you see people with their mothers come in, you can change a whole family," he said.

The key, he said, is "to make them feel like they have some future to look forward to."

When the center first opened, a major task was keeping street attitudes and street hostilities outside. By showing and demanding respect, Black said, "I think they know we mean business. If you can't be safe here, you can't be here."

On a recent weekday morning, about two dozen students in a GED class played a version of the game show "Jeopardy!" to help prepare for their tests. Afterward, Lauren Griggs, 18, Krystal McRee, 16, and Marquita Stringfellow, 18, said the center is helping them prepare to care for their families. McRee, who became pregnant at 14, wasn't allowed to return to school after having her baby because of what she called a "troubled history in Charleston." Stringfellow finished her senior year of high school in Gary, Ind., while six months pregnant but doesn't have a diploma.

The center is one of the few avenues open to them for help in Mississippi County, they said. "This is the only way to get an education to better my life," McRee said.

The center relies heavily on grants and donations to survive. Private donors qualify for state tax credits under the Neighborhood Assistance Program, which can be worth up to 70 percent of the donation.

Staff members acknowledge they could probably find other jobs in their fields with better pay. But they come from the community and want to give back, said George DeMyers, a retired teacher who is the adult education and literacy director. "Everyone works hard to give that love, and we have become like a family," he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126