2002 Annual Report Executive Summary
City of East Prairie Enterprise Community
As Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center, the Lead Entity of the East Prairie Enterprise Community, celebrated its tenth anniversary, the economic and physical well being for the 3416 residents of East Prairie living in the East Prairie Enterprise Community for the year 2002 was both positively and negatively impacted.
Preschool youth and their parents now have an opportunity to create more learning opportunities for their youth through the Even Start educational program, a collaborative program with the East Prairie R#2 School District. The community benefits from year- round after school and weekend program Positive Patterns for Kids (PP4K), a community based weekend and summer latch key program (Benchmark 4). Over 100 community youth participate in these activities. The Staff and the Board of Directors have adopted a forward-thinking approach to providing services to meet the needs of Enterprise Community residents. In partnership with the National Center for Family Literacy and Missouri’s Literacy Investment for Tomorrow, the center’s youth programs, adult education, and child day care recognize and have implemented the Equipped for the Future model, a national standard family literacy model. This describes skills that adults need to be successful citizens, workers, and family members in the 21st Century. Positive Patterns for Kids (PP4K) operates from a 6,000+ square foot building that was donated to Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center for youth development activities. The new facility, adjacent to the Center and named the Whitaker Building in honor of the donor, was the site of a full-scale summer camp which served 82 youth and included community service projects, field trips, arts instruction, and a nutritious daily lunch provided in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Health. The community service program, collaboration with the Mississippi County Juvenile Court, serves court-involved youth by providing supervised service opportunities in addition to leadership and citizenship instruction and mentoring. The community service program was developed in response to the need to provide to juvenile offenders a structured environment in which to learn job skills while earning money to pay fines and restitution through paid work experiences.
Youth also benefited from the Mini-Society curriculum, a youth entrepreneurship training implemented with assistance from the Kansas City-based Kauffmann Foundation. Twenty-five summer camp youth participants were exposed to a hands-on curriculum that taught them the basic components of small business, and even provided them with an on-site “store” in which they could purchase toys, CD’s, and other items with the “money” they earned from their entrepreneurial efforts.
“Commitment This Year and Beyond, ” Susanna Wesley’s AmeriCorps program, has performed, facilitated, and inspired more than 10,000 hours of community service in the Enterprise Community. The program, now in the midst of its second year of a 3-year funding cycle, is a partnership with the Center and the Missouri Community Service Commission, which is in turn funded by the federally funded Corporation for National Service. The 10 AmeriCorps members are recruited from the local area, and quite often have been served by other Susanna Wesley program offerings. While serving across the spectrum of the Center’s programs, members are encouraged to better themselves by taking advantage of adult education opportunities and challenging service experiences.
The economic downturn in the economy has negatively impacted the entire area. This is compounded by continued lower agricultural prices and the trend of moving factories out of the country. (Benchmark 14) There were several positive economic development activities in 2002. The East Prairie Enterprise Community has formed a partnership with Cornell University to create an Entrepreneurship Center for disadvantaged adults and youth in the Enterprise Community, Mississippi County, the Missouri Bootheel, and the Lower Mississippi Delta Region. A professor from Cornell and Susanna Wesley Inc. met in January with the Kauffman Foundation to discuss the Mini Society Project, an entrepreneurial program for youth. Revolving loan funds have provided gap funding for five businesses, one startup business and four business retentions. Three activities, approved and funded by the Community Development Block grant, will strengthen the city infrastructure. Residents will be protected by a more efficient infrastructure including a new fire station and water and sewer treatment plant. Housing will also be positively impacted by the construction of two new houses for low-income residents and the beginnings of a building skills program. The City of East Prairie Enterprise Community in partnership with Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center, Inc., lead entity for the enterprise community, has received funding from the Missouri Department of Economic Development Community Block Development Program for a Building Skills program. In this Building Skills program, participants will construct three houses. These houses will be purchased by low-income applicants. The building skills program targets Welfare To Work clients in Mississippi and Scott counties with special emphasis on non-custodial parents.
The Enterprise Community’s technology infrastructure was greatly enhanced by improvements to the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center Computer Lab and additions to the Adult Education and Literacy program curriculum. The Center has a fully operational information network with full-time on-demand Internet access, and the Computer Lab offers basic computer literacy instruction using the How to Master curriculum. How to Master, coupled with the availability of classes certified by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and designed to prepare residents for high-paying entry level jobs in network administration and information management, will be of great assistance to the community in its ongoing efforts to become a model 21st century rural area.
The major marketing effort for economic development in the East Prairie Enterprise Community was the designation of East Prairie as an approved Ameren UE InSite community. The goal of this program is to create a marketing tool for Ameren Services Communities that will raise economic development competitiveness by identifying ready-to-build sites. Completion of the program also offers qualifying communities professionally engineered building plans specification, drawings, and approximated. cost etc. for a 60,000-sq.ft building expandable to 200,000 sq ft. This will assist in the promotion of the East Prairie Enterprise Community and attract new business development to the 54 acre Industrial Park that is owned by the city. It will promote the existing 60,000 sq. ft. building that is currently available, due to the closing of Jakel, Inc. (Benchmarks 12 and 14).
This year’s marketing efforts have included the mailings of Industrial Brochures and Community Profiles to over 50 prospective companies. The progress of the St. John’s Bayou New Madrid Floodway project (Benchmark 15) for the year 2002 continues to move ahead slowly. Federal objections to the project were overcome. The Corps requested water quality certification from Missouri Department of Natural Resources. This request was denied “without prejudice” on the basis federal agencies had not agreed on mitigation, that the Corps was not clear on its commitment to Big Oak Tree State Park. The Corps has since appealed that denial and sent a Memorandum of Agreement about Big Oak Tree. They are negotiating with Department of Natural Resources about the Park. The Twenty First Century After School Program offered computer training. Over 30 residents have been enrolled in the East Prairie R#2 Computer training program. The East Prairie Tourism Council (Benchmark 13) continues to work to complete the goals of the Enterprise Community to effectively influence economic development through tourism. During the past year, the council has written and submitted information on local attractions that have been published in regional, state and national tourism publications. Success in Leveraging and Obtaining Funds for Project.
As a result of the Enterprise Community designation and with the support of partners, the community has acquired, since 1994, over $14,200,000 in additional funding to implement benchmark activities. Funds for the calendar year 2002 include: Missouri Department of Economic Development Neighborhood Assistance Grant to Susanna Wesley, Inc. for Welfare to Work Program and Incentives $470,000 years 2001-2002. The City of East Prairie was awarded a $500,000 Missouri CDBG Public Facility Grant to build a 350,000 gallon water tower. This will aid in a total project to construct a new water treatment rehabilitation project that is funded with a combination of CDBG grant, USDA Rural Development loans and city funding. The total cost of this project will be $5,102,843. (Benchmark 14) The City was awarded a Community Facility Grant for the construction of a new Fire Station for $290,000. This amount, along with the city funding will allow a new $400,000 Fire Station to be constructed. Constructed in the fall of 2002 and will be completed by spring of 2003. The City was awarded a Missouri CDBG -Innovative Grant for Job Training/Housing Construction Program in the amount of $244,900. This will provide funding for the construction of three houses through the Building Skills program, which teaches Job Training Skills. The houses will be sold to low-income residents. Missouri Division of Job Training through Service Delivery Area 13 Workforce Investment Board funded employment support, job training, and job connections, $1,086,010 to Susanna Wesley to fund the East Prairie Enterprise Community and other areas in the southern southeastern region. Missouri Division of Social Services for Cultural Productivity adults’ grant, $100,000, adult - Keep Workers Working $20,947, direct services to domestic violence $93,108, youth, PP4K $70,256; Missouri Depart of Education – Adult Education and Literacy $100,820. Even Start $177,780, and AmeriCorps Vista Member (LIFT MO) $24,000; Missouri Depart of Economic Development, Community Service Commission - Americorps - $125,500, Missouri Depart of Economic Development – youth arts program $16,500; ; Neighborhood Assistance Program -$117,375 Missouri Depart of Public Safety, youth programming (($35,924) and domestic violence support $103,172, , US Dept. of Justice – Title V youth program $99,743., Title II youth program - $4,120. US Dept of Housing & Urban Development – youth $42,356. Children’s Trust Fund - youth programs $39,060; Missouri Department of Health - youth programs $89,854.; Private donors included: Kauffman Center – Youth program $5,262; United Methodist Women – youth programs $23,000; United Methodist Global Ministries $20,000; Missouri United Methodist Foundation - $4,500; private individual donations - $83,066 and $61,000 was provided from private donors to support youth and adult programming.