Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for December 25, 2005 A CHRISTMAS CAIRO

In our updated version of Charles Dickens' classic, the Ghost of Christmas Past is ably portrayed by Stace England - "Greetings from Cairo, Illinois". Stace provides a vivid, painful recollection of our tumultuous past...an "intervention" of the "tough love" variety. Although it may be difficult to embrace for many, it MUST be recognized and accepted by the local citizenry if Cairo is ever to move forward.

The Ghost of Christmas Present is providing "self guided tours" - daily! Just "cruise" Commercial Avenue...

Stace England reflects on this current state of affairs in Cairo:

• On "Prosperity Train", he observes that "It's dead on Commercial Street and the ghosts are leavin' town...ain't no one left to frighten off...and their haunts are falling down."

• In "Can't We All Just Get Along" - Stace does not give up on Cairo, observing that "Glory days are gone...leaving only a trace, but each time another building falls down...a garden could grow in its place."

From the Southern Illinoisan...

Mr. C's Style & Cut and Beauty Supply sits empty like most of the storefronts on Commerical Street in downtown Cairo, Illinois Thursday, December 22, 2005. The once populous and prosperous river city has fallen on hard times and once magnificent buildings throughout the city are continuing to crumble. (CEASAR MARAGNI/THE SOUTHERN)

Long Road Ahead: Reaction mixed to Team Illinois' work in Alexander County

By: Matt Adrian
Lee Springfield Bureau

SPRINGFIELD - More than two years after a special state program was supposed to rebuild and reshape Alexander County little seems to have changed.

Disintegrated buildings, high unemployment and underperforming schools are still the norm for Cairo residents despite Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Team Illinois program, which is aimed at rejuvenating the state's four poorest communities.

Cairo's problems are most noticeable along an eight block stretch of Commercial Avenue. Once a thoroughfare populated by small businesses, it is littered with broken glass, boarded up doorways and buildings that have crumbled into the street.

At the corner of Eighth Street and Commercial Avenue, graffiti sprayed across an abandoned pool hall window reads: "? Cairo Leadership" floating over dunce cap.

"It's not the same place I grew up in," said Tammy Terry, a Cairo resident and Team Illinois steering committee member. "To come back home and see what has happened. It's like 'Oh my God, somebody has to do something."'

In July 2003, Blagojevich launched the Team Illinois program that would bring together all state agencies to help four communities with high unemployment rates, lack of adequate housing, major infrastructure needs and high illiteracy.

"For decades, the county's commercial vitality allowed Illinois to thrive. Today it is Illinois' turn to help Alexander County thrive," said Blagojevich during an August 2003 stop in Tamms.

The program is at work in Alexander County, East Aurora, Pembroke Township near Kankakee and Savanna. So far the state estimates it has invested nearly $4 million in all four communities. The Illinois Department of Human Services is considering replicating the program in Venice, located in Madison County.

The program has received mixed reviews from local service providers. Frederica Garnett, executive director for The Delta Center, a mental health and youth services provider, said she found the Team Illinois concept interesting.

"I thought it was worth investigating. The more funding sources interact with each other the farther the dollars go," she said. "I think a lot of issues have been identified but not the ability to solve them.

"I haven't seen anything. People are still coming here," said Sherry Miller, associate director for the Daystar Community Program, a Catholic charity that provides local residents a variety of services from food to clothing. "Nobody ever called me to be on it."

Team Illinois coordinator Ron Carter said progress is being made, but it will take time.

"There are no overnight fixes to the challenges we've identified," Carter said. "These are things that have been neglected for decades by several administrations."

The state has identified at least 54 goals for the region and has completed 36 such as building a new playground to holding resource fairs.

"We are into the long-term phase of the projects. The things that cost more money and require a greater amount of technical expertise to accomplish," Carter said.

When Blagojevich announced the program, the county's 2003 average unemployment rate was 10.7 percent according to the Illinois Department of Employment Securities. While the jobless rate dropped by one percent in 2004, this year's unemployment numbers have fluctuated from 10.2 to 7.2 percent.

To jumpstart the region's economy, the state along with Southern Illinois University is trying to build up Alexander County's tourism by creating a Civil War museum that features a replica of the USS Cairo, an iron clad vessel.

EDUCATION

Alexander County has two school districts. The Egyptian Community Unit School District 5 which has met state and federal standards and Cairo Unit School District 1 which continues to struggle.

According to the 2005 Illinois school report card, test scores have improved slightly. However, nearly 62 percent of tested Cairo students were failing to meet federal and state standards. Statewide, 64 percent of tested students met federal and state standards.

"It's a monster issue," said Fred Nettles, the agency's Alexander County liaison, which the state is trying to address through more after school programs.

Terry, who is also a Cairo district truant officer, said the state has helped her keep children from skipping school. When a child is not showing up for class, the state will remind parents on public aid that their benefits could be reduced.

"A lot of parents' cash income has been sanctioned because they refuse to send kids to school," she said. "It's been very instrumental in getting the parents' attention."

According to the district's 2005 report card, chronic truancy has been nearly cut in half to 7.3 percent.

CRUMBLING BUILDINGS

Team Illinois helped tear down the long abandoned Thebes High School and remove asbestos.

However, the concrete barricades remain along Commercial Avenue, where Mr. C's Fashions once did business. Buildings to the left and right of Mr. C's have collapsed. The concrete barricades are to keep people from the rubble, which spills into the street.

The city shut the store down because the structure was unsafe, said Dianne Pope, who once held retail space at the shuttered store. Over two years ago, she moved across the street and started Dianne's Corner, a beauty supply store.

"If one of the buildings fall in the city will make us move out of here," Pope said.

The building next door to Dianne's Corner was once a sewing machine store. Now, the storefront window has been shattered. Some shelving remains, but has been bent off the wall at odd angles. The dry wall has been shredded revealing the brick underneath.

Daystar plans to move its food pantry off Commercial Avenue because of roof problems. The Cairo Chamber of Commerce recently had to put bars on its windows to keep bored kids from breaking into the building.

"We have all these young kids with nothing to do in Cairo going through these buildings," said Jay Manus, the chamber president. "They are dangerous. There's glass, there's rats not counting the brick that can fall down and hit them on the head."

The state is in the planning stages for razing decrepit buildings along the street. A preliminary report suggests there is no airborne asbestos, but a final review is still pending.

NO CRYSTAL BALL

Carter said he didn't have a "crystal ball" to predict when Alexander County would no longer need government's attention.

"A lot of the work we do is around something that is not very tangible," Carter said. "We've supported day care centers. We've supported youth programs. These are all things that you can't see but they are ongoing."

In the meantime, Daystar still serves about 300 families per month, said Miller, who has worked in Cairo for 15 years. Miller remains skeptical of the future.

"We can't look back because we can't do anything about that. We can't look forward because nothing is getting done," she said. "We have to live for today and try to do what we can today to make it better."