Cape Girardeau south-side residents have formed a new group, called PORCH, to revitalize a neighborhood that has long been plagued by poverty and crime.
PORCH, which stands for People Organized to Revitalize Community Healing, celebrated its formation and introduced itself to the community at an event Friday night at the River Campus.
Based on the Purpose Built Communities (PBC) model that transformed a neighborhood in Atlanta, the new organization will serve as the "quarterback group" to act as the "voice and vision" to improve the south part of Cape Girardeau, according to a news release.
Residents and community leaders began to look at the PBC model two years ago as a way to make lasting improvements to the neighborhood.
The newly formed PORCH group wants to improve housing, wellness and education to alleviate crime and poverty on the city's south side.
Part of that vision calls for establishing an early-childhood education center as well as a medical clinic and pharmacy to serve the neighborhood.
Cape Girardeau School District officials already plan to turn Jefferson Elementary School into a STREAM school (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Art and Mathematics), a move that could aid in the neighborhood revitalization effort.
Ward 2 Councilwoman Shelly Moore, who represents the south side and is the only black member on the Cape Girardeau City Council, chairs the new group. Tamara Zellars Buck, a south-side resident and Southeast Missouri State University faculty member, serves as vice chairwoman.
Moore said, "We can change the environment that we live in."
Buck and others said education is key to revitalizing south Cape Girardeau, including development of an early-childhood center.
Cape Girardeau public schools superintendent Neil Glass said school officials are seeking a grant to fund such a center.
Buck said her group wants to foster development of career readiness programs for students who want to pursue a trade or enter college.
The PORCH group also wants to see an indoor aquatic center built on the south side.
Mixed-income housing is needed, too, Buck said. PORCH wants to encourage development of new, affordable housing for families and the elderly.
"We also want to revitalize the existing housing," she said.
Buck said her group wants to provide a pathway to home ownership and reduce the number of dilapidated buildings.
Another goal is to encourage development of businesses in the area, including restaurants.
"We have to stop looking at the south side as something to avoid," she told those gathered at the River Campus.
Buck said in a news release distributed in advance of the event "when you have a history of crime or stories about crime, that becomes the story people tell. You create a culture in the community."
Buck said, "It is all about perspective and perception, and representation. Until we start telling the good stories that come out of (South) Cape Girardeau, all people are going to hear is bad."
Organizers said the south-side neighborhood is often looked upon exclusively as an area of crime and poverty. Buck said the neighborhood in which she lives is viewed as the "poster child for poverty in Cape Girardeau."
Crime and poverty exist elsewhere in the city, too, but are more concentrated in the south part of the city, they said.
Neighborhood residents said the area previously was a great place to raise families and can be again.
Martha Wilson said the neighborhood once was "very nice. It was like a neighborhood of relatives." She added that "we took care of each other's children."
Wilson was one of several residents who were interviewed as part of a YouTube video produced by Southeast Missouri State University students.
"In my day, I never heard of people killing each other," she said in the video.
Today, there are numerous dilapidated buildings and rundown properties.
"It looks awful," Wilson said. Shootings are a problem, she said. "It's not safe to sit on a front porch."
Moore said in the video "it takes a village to raise a child. We need to be that village again."
Wilson and Moore are not alone in remembering a friendlier neighborhood. It's part of the idea behind PORCH.
"It beckons back to a simpler era of porch swings and good times, and neighbors connecting with neighbors and uniting a community," the release stated.
Marvin McBride, one of the members of the PORCH group, said, "I like South Cape because of the people. They're genuine. They're real."
Former Mayor Harry Rediger and local philanthropist Earl Norman were early proponents of the Purpose Built Communities model.
Mayor Bob Fox said Friday the revitalization effort would not have begun without the leadership of Rediger and Norman.
Rediger said reviving the south side will take years.
"Stay with it. Don't get discouraged," he told PORCH members.
The PORCH group's Buck said her organization needs operational funding and office space.
"We need to have a full-time executive director and a support staff," she said.
The group also needs more volunteers.
"We need help," she said.
mbliss@semissourian.com
(573) 388-3641
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Members of PORCH, People Organized to Revitalize Community Healing:
Shelly Moore, Tamara Zellars Buck, Mary Walker, Joann McCauley, Sommer Perdue, Stafford Moore and Marvin McBride.
PORCH has released a YouTube video that includes interviews with Cape Girardeau south-side residents:
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