Cape resource center, Boys and Girls Club to merge

On the verge of extinction, the Cape Area Family Resource Center is moving to merge with the Boys and Girls Club of Cape Girardeau in what board members for both children's advocacy organizations call the perfect marriage of services.

Ted Yates, chief volunteer officer/president for the Boys and Girls Club, said by the middle of August the groups should have a plan to merge the entities, with resource center board members integrating into the Boys and Girls Club. The mission is to continue providing after-school activities for South Cape children in South Cape, Yates said.

"This is a really nice fit. We both have the same mission, and it's all about kids," he said. "We want to provide a place after school that's a positive place for them until they can go home. We all know children get into trouble between 3 and 8 p.m. if they don't have anything to do."

The board of the resource center earlier this month announced it "made this difficult decision" to close the center by mid-July after its dwindling funding sources had failed to keep up with expenses.

The worn, three-level property, originally built as a church in 1941, was a big factor in the organization's decision to shut down operations. It isn't accessible to the disabled, and bringing it up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards would cost about $100,000, according to board member Kevin Sexton. Utilities alone run about $1,000 a month, he said.

Yates said the center would retain its name and its popular leader, interim director Pat King.

King said she'd like to stay in the position, and she'd love to leave the aged center, which has served low-income children, parents and senior citizens of South Cape for 14 years.

"I feel the resource center had sustained its purpose," King said. "Personally, I'm tired of being cold in the winter, semi-hot in the summer and wet when it rains."

The merged organization would maintain the resource center's summer camp, now serving the maximum of 50 children a day.

The United Way of Southeast Missouri funds the center's after-school program to the tune of nearly $28,000 a year and contributes $10,000 annually to the day camp. Nancy Jernigan, United Way's executive director, said the money goes with the program if it remains in South Cape.

Yates, Jernigan and others say they'd like to bring after-school programs and perhaps some limited services for seniors to the new Shawnee Park Center. Finding space may be a problem.

The 14,541-square-foot center has a gym, activity center and a 1,540-square-foot meeting room. But the facility's revenue streams come from events, meetings and athletic leagues, and there's only so much room.

"If it took on a big portion of children, it would shut down meeting rooms and maybe half of the gym, and that's our biggest revenue source," said Scott Williams, recreation division manager for the city's parks and recreation department. "That's something we have to think about. There are not a lot of options in there."

Williams said the department is hoping to land a $300,000 grant that would expand physical fitness programs for children and fund a playground system and additional sidewalks in the area. That funding, he said, could open up a field of possibilities for after-school programs, making it easier to serve the needs of the Boys and Girls Club and the resource center. The grant would not be released until November, however, so the Shawnee Park Center wouldn't be able to begin the initiative until early January.

Williams said officials from the parks and recreation department plan to meet with the Boys and Girls Club board members in the coming weeks to develop a plan.

"This process is moving forward," Yates said. "This will be great for not just South Cape but for all of Cape Girardeau. We want to keep the legacy going, keep the dream going."

mkittle@semissourian.com

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