Cape's PORCH group looking for director, office space

A nationwide search is underway for an executive director to head a south Cape Girardeau revitalization group, which is also looking for office space in the neighborhood it serves.

PORCH, which stands for People Organized to Revitalize Community Healing, began advertising for a director in late August. The organization hopes to name someone to the post no later than the middle of October and possibly before the end of September.

Tamara Zellars Buck, who serves as vice chair of PORCH's organizing committee, said the executive director will develop the group's direction and affiliation with the national Purpose Built Communities program and move the PBC program forward. The Purpose Built Communities concept originated about 20 years ago in Atlanta and helped revitalize an economically depressed area of the city.

John Ryan, CACF Treasurer, left, marks the establishment of the PORCH Fund with PORCH representatives Tamara Zellars Buck and Shelley Moore, along with Judy Cantoni, East Region Manager for the CFO.Submitted by Louise Knauer

PORCH is focusing its efforts on a residential area of Cape Girardeau from William Street south to Southern Expressway and bordered on the east by the Mississippi River and on the west by West End Boulevard.

"We've posted the job listing on several employment sites and we've also shared the position with the Purpose Built Community network to see if there is someone in the network who is perhaps looking for the opportunity to move up," Buck said. "We would love to have someone who was a part of the Purpose Built Community network already because that person would already know what we need to do."

Buck said candidates with experience working with not-for-profit organizations in the St. Louis area and other regions are also being sought. "And we are certainly looking for the right candidate within our own community as well," she said.

The executive director's salary will be underwritten by contributions to the organizations and eventually other sources, including grants and Purpose Built Community funding. "Right now we're relying on private donations from people who have been setting aside money or letting us know they're going to support us financially, specifically to help us with the executive director position because that is a key component for us to become a Purpose Built Community member organization," Buck explained.

Some funding also could come from the Cape Area Community Foundation which designated PORCH as a participating funded agency earlier this week.

In addition to Atlanta, there are approximately 20 other Purpose Built Communities in the United States. "The nearest one to us is in Kansas City," Buck said, "but they're also in Oklahoma, Ohio, Indiana and Alabama."

In addition to serving as a liaison between PORCH and the Purpose Built Communities network, the executive director will be responsible for fundraising, marketing and community outreach as well as overall administration and strategic planning for the organization. A complete job description can be found on the PORCH Facebook page.

"Our committee will be reviewing applications as they come in and trying to identify that perfect executive director for our organization," Buck said. "We will continue looking until we find the right person, but we would definitely like to have that person identified and revealed within the month or at least by mid-October."

In addition to searching for someone to head the organization, Buck said the PORCH organizing committee is also working to formalize a board of directors and find office space on the city's south side.

"Finding a home (for PORCH) has been a challenge because we're adamant that we want to have our offices located in the community we're serving, but there aren't many commercial properties in south Cape Girardeau," she said. "I hope that at least in October we'll be able to reveal that we've identified a location where people can find us because if we don't have boots on the ground in the neighborhood it will be hard to represent the interests of people there."

PORCH is planning a community event in October at which time Buck said the group hopes to announce its new location and its new director. "We'll be inviting people to come learn more about the Purpose Built Community program and about PORCH and what PORCH is doing in the community," she said. "We're doing a lot of work behind the scenes, working with the city, working with different organizations and individuals, trying to get ourselves and our goals recognized in the community."

More information about the October event will be announced in the near future, Buck said.

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