CONCERNED HEARTS CLEAN UP GOOD HOPE NEIGHBORHOOD

Armed with plastic bags and gloves, more than 20 volunteers took to the streets Saturday to clean up the Good Hope neighborhood.

Saturday's cleanup was the first of what Citizens with Concerned Hearts, a coalition of families, churches and merchants, hope will be a continuing series of events to bring residents of the area together.

Dianna Carter, who lives on Locust Street, was one of the volunteers who braved the heat to pick up trash and debris.

"I want to clean up our neighborhood," she said. "It's a nice place to live. If everyone would clean up after themselves, it wouldn't be so bad."

Shardae McCauley, 10, and Jessica Sloan, 14, who both live in the neighborhood, were also hard at work Saturday morning.

"We're picking up trash so our community can be clean," Shardae said.

"It's Good Hope, and Good Hope is always messy," Jessica said.

Citizens with Concerned Hearts want to change that perception of the neighborhood.

"We're out today because we're taking this day to clean up our community and we brought together this committee to make a difference in our community," said Pastor Wiley Reed of the Second Baptist Church of Cape Girardeau.

Reed said he hopes passers by and neighbors saw the volunteers out working and will choose to get involved themselves "by and by. If not today, maybe the next time."

Jim Rushell of Anchor Construction, located at Frederick and Good Hope, said organizers are working "just mainly to kind of pull the neighborhood together and have a little pride in the area."

A few weeks ago, the group held a picnic at Fort D, "and we had probably a couple of hundred people there," he said.

The Good Hope neighborhood, once a thriving commercial area, has been best known in recent years for crime and gang activity. The construction of a new Salvation Army recreation center for youth has been hailed as a big development for the area, and Cape Girardeau police have begun pounding the beat in the area as one way to develop a closer relationship with residents and help cut down on crime.

But many Good Hope residents and merchants still feel the neighborhood has been isolated from the rest of the city.

"It just seems like this area has just left back here," Rushell said. He grew up in the area and attended May Greene School. He lived in Nashville for several years, and returned to Cape Girardeau "about three years ago," he said.

Shelley Moore of the House of Prayer said she was gratified by the turnout of volunteers.

"It's a good turnout for the first time," she said.

Moore has lived in the neighborhood for several years, she said, "so I'm familiar with the area."

She said it's important for young and old to work together to improve the neighborhood.

"I think that's where you have to start, with the people," she said.

While the work is being done in the Good Hope neighborhood, Citizens with Concerned Hearts want to send a message to the whole city, Reed said.

"We want to make sure that everyone understands that Cape Girardeau is a community that is not divided, but it is a community that can work together," he said.