Family Resource Center offers opportunity to pitch in, help South Cape

By Denise Lincoln

The Cape Area Family Resource Center is faced with tough challenges. The shortfalls in our building adequacy are the same today as they were seven years ago when the board of directors acquired the building at 1202 S. Sprigg St. for the purpose of "providing resources to the families in the southeast quadrant of Cape to become resourceful, responsible, and self-reliant."

The only thing that has changed is that we have officially defined building inadequacies as the result of inspections conducted Feb. 5 by friendly, conscientious state employees who have the best interest of children's health and safety in mind.

To enhance our summer program, I applied to become a Freedom School site with the Children's Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. The application and acceptance to participate in this model program require the site to show child-care licensure (or an exemption) and fire and health inspection certifications.

I admit it never occurred to me that the two-hour, four-day-a-week after-school program that has existed, in some form, at CAFRC for six years would be subject to licensure as a day-care facility the same as an extended-care, meal-serving, diaper-changing, nap-required, for-profit commercial business.

So far in this process, our after-school program does require this license, but with some variance because we only include school-age children in our program.

Anyone who has walked into the building at 1202 S. Sprigg St. has had the same first impression as I did: "Oh, my." It is a shabby, used-up building. Most buildings in south Cape Girardeau are in the same condition or worse. The thing that impressed me -- first as a volunteer, then as a part-time employee -- is that despite the less-than-pristine aesthetics, you don't need a lot to turn on the lights, greet a kid after school with a smile, a snack and enthusiasm to look at the homework in her backpack, play a table game and use a few minutes to talk about making good choices and send her off into the cold winter night encouraged and cared for.

I'm learning that my middle-class sensibilities get in the way too often. I've come to realize misplaced priorities are often excuses for not taking the actions that are needed. In the three years that I've chosen to spend my days in south Cape, more than 300 other folks, from every race and economic strata, have joined this enterprise of bringing hope, care and love of learning, offering themselves as volunteers to this task. In 2007, 111 volunteers logged 3,211 hours of service.

Some volunteers are youthful, enthusiastic high school and university students. Some are neighborhood parents and grandparents, catching a vision for what we can accomplish together and are learning leadership skills. Some are church groups on missions who provide supplies or clean, paint or improve lighting and insulation needs. Some are pet owners (Pet Pals) who have discovered with me that reluctant readers find new courage and motivation to read aloud to a warm, fuzzy dog or cat, because the animal doesn't criticize or correct him.

Some are the conventional helping agency staff who have found our after-school program to be the time and place to have their own effect on the south Cape kids: Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H Club, Boys & Girls Club, Cape Girardeau Public Library, Southeast Missouri Hospital's HealthPoint Fitness.

Kids in poverty don't have the opportunities for out-of-school enrichment unless it is accessible in their neighborhood and free of charge. What I've seen occur at the CAFRC is Cape Girardeau at its best. Are we in the best facility Cape Girardeau can offer? Absolutely not. The truth is that there are funds available for programs, but very few grant or civic contributions are available for bricks-and-mortar projects (building, staff and basic support for utilities, insurance, improvements to meet licensure requirements).

The truth is CAFRC needs an extreme makeover. Yes, I have written to ABC and Ty Pennington. The truth is we don't need a national broadcast network and a reality show to solve our problem. What is happening at the Family Resource Center is a microcosm of the conditions in nearly every home and building in South Cape.

We need every resident of Cape Girardeau who has wondered what can be done about the dropout rate of Central High school students, or has been alarmed at the parade of young south Cape youths whose names are in the police record, or has worried about the kids in houses that are so poorly insulated that utilities are cut off every March, or have been incensed about the lack of parental involvement in elementary and middle school -- I'm asking you to realize that a small financial investment in helping to renovate a building situated in the midst of these needs can begin to turn the tide of these despairs.

You see, in hindsight, it might have been ill-advised to think we could open the doors of this leaky, 1940s-era building that doesn't have electric exit lights, pull station fire alarms with horns and strobes, one-hour fire-rate encapsulated furnace rooms, shiny perfect floors or stainless ceilings.

The fact is that the kids of South Cape couldn't wait for those niceties. The fact is we plunged in with what we had, striving to do all we could to improve as we go.

The fact is we have operated Monday through Thursday during the school year and for six weeks of full-day activity in summer day camp for the past three years.

The fact is we want to continue to faithfully do what we can to inspire and guide kids today.

To continue, we must find the money to make the identified improvements. Is the old building worth it? In these times of recycle, repurpose and restore, I say yes. The experts tell me our old house has good bones. I'm seeking expert advice to determine the feasibility of a restoration project.

So stay tuned. I may be needing you to ask your rich uncle to give me a call. If you don't have a rich uncle, consider what you might choose to give up this month and write your own check. We are a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. Your contribution is tax deductible.

Beyond the money, we may invite your muscle to start the renovation or your contribution of skilled labor to put us back into the compliance that is reasonably expected to keep kids safe.

This program is not the first to be challenged by the licensure standards required, in the eyes of the state, to provide a safe place for the care of children. As a Missourian, I'm glad the standards are high. Our kids deserve the best. Organizations stronger than ours decided "child care" isn't worth the expense and walked away from providing for kids.

As a resident of Cape Girardeau, I agonized for years about the conditions of South Cape before I found the courage to try to do something about it. How can we as private citizens, local churches, local government and local business begin to be proactive about our "South Cape situation"? What is your answer?

I am grateful for everything I'm learning about the real-world realities when financial resources cannot come close to meeting your everyday needs. I'm grateful for a kid's smile when he makes 100 percent on his spelling test and brings it to show. I'm grateful for college kids who come to South Cape semester by semester and model by their lives and their accomplishments that learning is important. I'm grateful for neighborhood moms and dads who realize people really care about their kids and their families and know they are not alone. I'm grateful for neighborhood leaders who are realizing their own strengths and abilities to continue this culture-changing work. I'm grateful for this opportunity to tell my story.

Denise Lincoln is the manager of the Cape Area Family Resource Center, 1202 S. Sprigg St. Her telephone number is 334-8170.