# of Neighborhood Organizations assisted: 5

# of Faith-Based Organizations assisted: 4

# of Municipal Agencies assisted: 3

# of Non-Profits assisted: 6

The month of April was a busy and productive month for the NTAC and ESLARP staff. First of all, Ms. LaTonya Burton Webb, Interim Community Planner, was married on April 23, 1999 to Mr. Isadore Webb. Mrs. Burton Webb completed the March/April issue of the NTAC Newsletter and prepared maps and demographic information for several of our community partners. NTAC and ESLARP staff organized and attended several workshops, conferences and neighborhood meetings and provided technical assistance to four faith-based organizations.

ESLARP and NTAC staff and the members of ANSI organized and facilitated an Alta Sita Neighborhood Summit that took place at Alta Sita Elementary School on April 17, 1999. ESLARP and NTAC staff and James Jones of ESL CAN distributed flyers advertising this neighborhood summit. The following are the goals of the Alta Sita Summit:

• Gather together in one room Alta Sita residents, business owners, church leaders and service providers with regional resource providers to discuss the revitalization of the neighborhood.
• Establish an ambitious set of objectives to focus the efforts of Alta Sita over the next five years.
• Organize working issue committees that will examine program ideas, specific prioritized actions and implementation strategies that meet the objectives of the five-year neighborhood revitalization plan.
• Identify possible funding sources for neighborhood improvement projects
• Form open and productive partnerships between the City of East St. Louis and public and private professional organizations that provide technical assistance and resources to Alta Sita Neighbors, Inc.
• Expand resident recruitment efforts to build the ANSI membership base to ensure that the neighborhood association has a powerful voice in neighborhood and citywide decision making.
• Enjoy a day of sharing stories and dreams with neighbors and friends of Alta Sita and fully develop a minimum of six program ideas.

On April 9, 1999, fifty-one students of the Alta Sita Elementary School’s after school program joined a dozen students from the University of Illinois (ESLARP) and Mrs. LaTonya Burton Webb, Interim Community Planner of the NTAC, for an afternoon of neighborhood planning. Administrators, teachers, members of ANSI and parents attended the event. For the University and the Alta Sita Neighborhood, the Youth Planning Activity was one of the most positive partnerships we have made to date. It provided the opportunity to involve the future leaders of the neighborhood and the world in identifying their dreams for the future. The results of this event will be included in the Alta Sita Comprehensive Neighborhood Improvement Plan.

I provided design and technical assistance to the University of Illinois architecture and landscape architecture students that worked on this project.

I met with Mr. Bill Dunning of Martin Roofing and Ohala Ward, Executive Director of the Carver Community Center, to discuss the contractual agreement between the owner and the contractor. We also discussed procedures for executing the project.

On April 29, 1999, I met with Ms. Gail Peistrup, the staff nurse at the CAC, regarding the establishment of their Wellness Center. The purpose of this center is to provide health screening for East St. Louis residents. We also discussed various ways to publicize their program activities.

Mrs. LaTonya Burton Webb prepared a packet of information on the City of East St. Louis regarding census data, demographic data and ESLARP/NTAC project accomplishments and program activities. This information was submitted to Ms. Mary Kane, First Vice President of Public Finance, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. This company was hired by the City of East St. Louis to investigate a variety of financial matters.

On April 30, 1999, the NTAC staff met with Rev. Kendall Granger of Centreville, IL regarding starting a nonprofit organization. The proposed name of this organization is Community Mission and its goals are to provide Christian ministry and services as well as social, economic and physical development to the Centreville Community. The NTAC will assist Community Mission develop and strengthen by providing training for its board of directors, general nonprofit training, development of their by-laws, attainment of the organization’s articles of incorporation and 501c3 status, grant writing/funding proposals, financial management and budgeting and computer access. We are scheduled to start training Community Mission sometime during the last week in May 1999.

Ms. Burton worked on a HUD grant (Continuum of Care Grant) in order to receive funding for renovations to the Helping Hand Shelter facility.

The NTAC staff attended the ESL CAN monthly meeting on April 17, 1999.

I was requested by the ESL Housing Authority to serve on their steering committee, which would be responsible for rewriting their policies and procedures. I requested that at least two of our community partners also serve on the steering committee, therefore Ms. Fern Watts and Ms. Bestine Tourijigian will also serve on this committee. We attended a general overview meeting on April 22, 1999 regarding the responsibilities of the steering committee.

Mrs. LaTonya Burton Webb prepared a map of East St. Louis that indicated the location and number of schools in the city.

I researched information regarding an unoccupied building formerly used by Hardee’s Restaurant located at 8417 State Street. I submitted a letter on behalf of ENA expressing an interest in purchasing the building. ENA is interested in acquiring this building in order to renovate it into a community center with office space.

I drafted the site plan for a house that will be constructed at 7^th Street and Summit Avenue. I also reviewed the construction documents that were purchased from 84 Lumber.

Mrs. LaTonya Burton Webb prepared a map of the Enterprise Communities with the Emerson Park Neighborhood highlighted within the context of the map. I also attended EPDC’s monthly meeting.

ESLARP and NTAC staff complied demographic information on the Empowerment Zone of East St. Louis and Enterprise Communities of East St. Louis, Alorton, Brooklyn, Centreville and Washington Park. This information was documented on the ESLARP web page. The contents of this information included: population and population trends, racial breakdown, age cohorts, family types, gender ratios, marital status and migration.

I wrote letters to all of the Illinois/Missouri Senators and Congressman encouraging them to support the St. Louis Regional Empowerment Zone by releasing the funding for this initiative.

I attended the Empowerment Zone Core Planning Team meetings on April 5, 12, 19 & 28, 1999.

The NTAC staff participated in teleconference meetings with the entire ESLARP staff on April 5 & 19, 1999.

The NTAC and ESLARP staff organized and sponsored the Third Annual Faculty Symposium on Service-Learning (Illinois Campus Compact Symposium) on Thursday, April 8, 1999 and Friday, April 9, 1999, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The theme of this year’s symposium was Promoting Community/University Partnerships for Civic Renewal and Social Justice through Service-Learning. The Illinois Campus Compact for Community Service (ICCCS) is a consortium of twenty public and private colleges and universities. It was established in 1992 to promote student participation in community and public service and to integrate service as a valued element of undergraduate and graduate education.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Dwight E. Giles, Professor of the Practice of Human and Organizational Development, at the Peabody School of Education at Vanderbilt University. Complimenting Dr. Giles address was various panel presentations, concurrent workshops and issue round tables. The symposium discussions will cover such topics as: principles of good practice in community service-learning; alternative approaches to creating sustainable community/university development partnerships; guidelines for institutionalizing community and public service programs; strategies for promoting inter-institutional cooperation for community development and recognizing, evaluating and rewarding public service in the promotion and tenure process.

I attended Saturday afternoon meetings throughout the month regarding the planning of the Katherine Dunham 90^th Birthday Celebration. I also facilitated the monthly Dunham Centers’ Board of Directors meeting.

Mrs. LaTonya Burton Webb completed and distributed the March/April edition of the NTAC Newsletter.

NTAC and ESLARP sponsored this seminar to introduce local civic leaders to the philosophy, theory, methods and practice of community organizing. The course has been developed to assist neighborhood residents in acquiring the knowledge and skills required to create and lead effective community organizations. Participants learned through a combination of readings, lectures, discussions and exercises. The meeting dates were March 27th, April 3rd, and April 10th, 1999. The course instructors were Ken Reardon, Ph. D. (UIUC), James Jones (ESL CAN Director) and Paul Foppe (UIUC Graduate Assistant).

I attended OPNA’s monthly meeting on April 1, 1999.

On April 6, 1999, the NTAC staff met with Ms. Debra Hunt to discuss and prepare for nonprofit board of directors training and coalition building training for the organization.

NTAC and ESL CAN staff organized a petition and letter writing campaign on behalf of the Greater East St. Louis Urban Resources Partnership (URP). The URP program is currently being audited by the OIG, therefore funding is on hold for 1998-99 projects. We wrote letters, etc. to encourage the USDA and NRCS to release funds and allow the program to continue in the Greater East St. Louis Area.

I attended South End’s monthly meeting to discuss NTAC program activities and the process for executing a comprehensive neighborhood plan.

Ms. LaTonya Burton Webb prepared a map of the Enterprise Communities for Mr. Vince Kwaitkowski.

Mr. James Jones, ESL CAN Director, and I met with Ms. Kelly Williams of St. Louis 2004 to discuss future regional collaborations.

On April 13, 1999, I met with residents, municipal agencies, Washington Park Police Department, Illinois State Police, CORO and Bruce Reppert, Assistant U.S. Attorney. The purpose of this meeting was to prepare for Washington Park’s Summer Clean-Up Campaign. This campaign started on May 1, 1999 and will continue on the following dates: May 15^th and 29^th, 1999; June 5^th and 19^th, 1999; July 3^rd and 17^th, 1999 and August 7, 1999. The sponsors of this event are: Village of Washington Park Government; Operation New Vision; Washington Park Emergency Organization; C.A.C.O.; Citizens for a Decent Community; Illinois State Police; Illinois Department of Corrections; Illinois Department of Transportation and CORO Midwestern Center.

Mrs. LaTonya Burton Webb met with Rev. Gary Wilson regarding starting a nonprofit organization and how to apply for 501c3 status.

On April 1, 1999, I facilitated a meeting with WIPNO Board Members, Nataline Harper and Chris Anderson of CDBG and Kendra Austin and Barbara Erv of the East St. Louis Housing Authority to review the appraisal of the Gaty Building prepared by Cheryl Oliver Reality. We also discussed the possible sale of the building to the ESL Housing Authority and conducted a site visit of the building. Ms. Cheryl Oliver also came to

re-assess the condition of the building because we requested that she reconsider re-doing the appraisal because the cost was too low ($60,000.00).

*See attached bills and time sheets.