September 10-11th, 2010 Outreach Weekend

ESLARPers gathered outside of Temple Hoyne Buell Hall at 7am on the crisp Friday September 10th, 2010.Drivers arrived in their respective vehicles and met with their students. Students received their information and driver/project assignment packets. We would not let the pending rain stop us from kicking off the Fall 2010 ESLARP Outreach Weekend effort! 68 UIUC students/faculty/staff departed for a weekend of participatory action research and service learning in ESL. The participating UIUC Courses were: FAA 291, FAA 391, LIS 451 & RST 393.

Upon arrival to East St. Louis, the group split up and headed toward their project sites. However, a small group of FAA 291 and RST 393 students, new to East St. Louis, were taken on a tour of the city, led by ESLARP Community Liason, Billie Turner. She stopped downtown, at the Emerson Park Metrolink/Parson’s Place and
Pullman Porter Park, amongst passing by many other important sites, before arriving for a tour of The Joseph Center/Eagle’s Nest of St. Claire County.



Returning FAA 291 students promptly began work at Opal’s House, where the end goal of the weekend was to have constructed the remainder of the privacy fence. 30” holes needed digging, 4x4” posts needed leveling and setting, quikcrete needed pouring. Under the guidance of Mike Andrejasich, Chip Dana and myself, Jenna Goebig,
the students braved the mud and poison ivy and pushed toward setting the stage for panel installation on Saturday. Roadblocks in the form of meeting an all‐too‐shallow gas‐line and thick tree roots were encountered, but
we pressed forward. On the other side of town, FAA 391 and 291 students began to dig the hole that will become a Koi Pond outside the entrance of the Joseph Center/Eagle’s Nest of St. Claire County. Residents and “Put Illinois to Work” employees helped in the morning hours with the digging efforts!



Everyone convened for the Eagle’s Nest’s traditional Friday Fish Fry for lunch. The East St. Louis Job Corp Culinary Team assisted Chef JR to provide our team with the most delectable lunch! After lunch, the work resumed. Friday projects included a privacy fence build at Opal’s House, Koi Pond construction at the Eagle’s Nest,
landscaping at Pullman Porter/41st Street Park, painting at the Mary Brown Center and CTC work at the ESL Park District Office, the Word Café and the Soul Food Café.

Friday night, the 68 attendees gathered at the HomeTown Buffet in Fairview Heights. We were graced with the presence of three of our ESLARP Community Partners: Martha Watts (The Joseph Center/Eagle’s Nest), Willie Beard (41st St/Pullman Porter Park) and Leverne Backstrom (Olivette Park Neighborhood Association). Per usual, I initiated a dinner reflection session whereby a student from each project was asked to brief everyone on their Friday accomplishments. Everyone was revitalized after a hearty dinner. The students had free time after dinner. Some went shopping, others went to a movie.



8am wake‐up calls came early Saturday morning! The students were treated to a delicious breakfast at the Sheraton in preparation for an intense WORK DAY! Everyone departed the Sheraton in Fairview Heights at 9am sharp! We had a total of seven sites: 41st Street Park, Eagle’s Nest, Opal’s House, Jones Park Community Center,
ESL Park District, the Mary Brown Center & Pirtle’s Variety. Check out the photos to see what the teams were up to all day! The ESLARPers and students worked so hard! We were lucky that the rain avoided us for the better half of the day. After the teams finished up their project tasks, ESLARP treated everyone to Pirtle’s Ice Cream!!



At around 5pm, we all loaded up and headed back to Champaign. I imagine some listened to the Illinois—SIU‐Carbondale football game, and some may have made it in time to see the last half of the game! A sincere thank you to the ESL community for your continued support and partnership! We look forward to our upcoming Outreach Weekend in October ‐JG

April 9-10th Outreach Weekend kicks off Spring 2010!!!

The Outreach Weekend Team gathered in the atrium of Temple Hoyne Buell Hall at 7am on Friday April 9th, 2010. Drivers picked up their vehicle and received their clipboards. Students received t-shirts, information and driver/project assignment packets. The stage was set. The sun was shining. East St. Louis called. 73 UIUC students/faculty/staff departed for a weekend away in ESL. The participating UIUC Courses were: ARCH 472/473, FAA 291, FAA 391, LA 336/338 & RST 218/393.

This time we took a slight detour to ESL. We stopped in Collinsville, IL to learn about and climb Monks Mound, the tallest of the 120 surrounding mounds that create Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (a UNESCO Heritage Site). Inhabited by the Cahokia sub-tribe of the Illiniwek from A.D. 700 to 1400, Cahokia Mounds was once a thriving civilization, whose disappearance remains a mystery. The students enjoyed the breeze and the view of East St. Louis and St. Louis!!

Everyone arrived at the Mary Brown Center in the heart of East St Louis to join a Community Partner Forum hosted by Billie Turner (ESLARP Community Liaison), Christina Fisher (Village Theatre) and Martha Watts (Eagle’s Nest). The students had the opportunity to learn a little bit about some of the projects that ESLARP has dedicated its efforts toward in the past years. After lunch with our partners, the first-time students embarked on an Interactive Tour of East St. Louis, led by our own staff expert: Billie Turner. The tour stopped at four establishments in East Metro SL: Village Theatre, where Christina gave the students a comprehensive tour of the facility; Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park, where the students experienced the riverfront from ESL using the brand new river overlook structure. They also witnessed the power of the Gateway Geyser shooting as tall as the arch itself! The third stop was Emerson Park/EP Metrolink. Billie gave the students a walking tour of the neighborhood. The final stop along the tour of the city was at the Eagle’s Nest to visit Martha Watts and her Veteran residents. All and all, the students got to see every facet of East St. Louis in an effort to paint, for them, the city’s picture.

Those returning students worked on projects with our community partners during the afternoon hours on Friday. Trees were cut and stacked at the Village Theatre. Leaves and brush were raked at Lincoln Park.

Later that evening, everyone reconvened for our dinner/reflection conversation. Our dinner guests included: Reverend and Mrs. Freeman, Laverne Backstrom, Christina Fisher, Barbara Levin and some students from Washington University in St. Louis. We enjoyed an Italian dinner and the students were prompted to converse and share their experiences of the tour.

Saturday was WORK DAY! Our students headed to their sites at 9am. We had a total of five sites: 41st Street Park, Eagle’s Nest, Illinois Ave Playground, Jones Park/Lincoln Park Horseshoe Pits, Jones Park Greenhouses, Opal’s House, Pilgrim Temple Church and a South End Alley Clean-up. Check out the pictures to see what everyone was up to!!! The teams worked so hard, enjoyed a delicious lunch courtesy of Charlie Poweel and SENDO, ESLARP and the East St. Louis Park District. After the teams finished up their project tasks, ESLARP treated everyone to Pirtle’s!! As the sun began to set, we all loaded up and headed back to Champaign. A sincere thank you to the ESL community for your continued support and partnership!

Check out the weekend's photos!!

-JG 

Freedom by Design Demo and Design

Freedom by Design (FBD), the community service organization of the American Institute of Architect Students, began the construction phase of a multi-tasked project for Opal’s House. Beginning in the Fall 08 semester, the team of University of IL architecture students, ranging from undergraduate to graduate, will build a wooden ramp and a staircase on the rear exterior of the house. FBD works to enhance the homes of low-income elderly and people with disabilities through quality design.

On Friday, the volunteers stored the lumber for the staircase and ramp at the tool shed located at the Village Theatre. They also moved 50 computer monitors to Eagle’s Nest. The monitors are a donation from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Saturday, was demolition day. The two FBD co-chairs and 5 of the team members removed the existing staircase. The team also began installing toilet grab bars in the first floor bathroom. Once the railings are installed, the bathroom will be meet ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements. In addition to the construction projects, the students completed landscaping around Opal’s House, mowing the lawn and transplanting the petunia bush adored by the home’s namesake.

Before returning to Champaign, the students presented the drawings for the project to George and Essie Calhoun of Opal’s House, and consulted with their construction mentor about the project.

FAA 199 students spruce up the place

About 20 FAA 199 students volunteered at Opal's House on Friday, September 26. Opal's House is a shelter for survivors of domestic violence, and is gearing up to open its doors. The students helped Essie Calhoun, the director of Opal's House, clean and prepare the upstairs bedrooms for clients. They moved 10 beds from the basement to the second floor, and started assembling the bunkbeds that will be used by women and children.

On Saturday, September 27, the FAA 199 students worked with the City of East St. Louis Mayor's Office and Concerned Citizens of Precinct 12 on a clean-up in Precinct 12. Located in the Lansdowne neighborhood, students and community members cleared an overgrown alley, cleared Waverly Avenue of litter, and cleaned up vacant lots. They also enjoyed a delicious lunch catered by Concerned Citizens of Precinct 12. We capped the day off with a much deserved trip to Pirtle's Ice Cream.

RST 393 in Alta Sita and Precinct 12

The Recreation Sports Tourism 393 class began their weekend by cutting trees and stacking the brush at Opal's House for Essie. It was a bit more that we had anticipated but we got it done quickly. After that we surveyed and flyered in the Alta Sita neighborhood around Virginia Park where we are working on getting folks in the area to adopt that park. Almost 20 surveys were completed which exceeded our expectations.

Saturday started of with an excellent first meeting of those interested in the Virginia Park project. It wasn't a big meeting but it was attended by some area movers-and-shakers. We decided to have a second meeting 10/18 followed by a cook-out in Virginia Park to get more people involved. Saturday afternoon we went to CCP12 to work on their clean up. More tree cutting and I hope no poison ivy.

September Outreach Weekend

Over 100 volunteers helped kick off another great school year for ESLARP in East St. Louis. Classes in Library Information Sciences, Recreation Sport and Tourism, Landscape Architecture, and Fine and Applied Arts worked in several different neighborhoods September 26-27. The weather was on our side and helped make sure volunteers completed their goals for the weekend. See the following posts to read more about specific projects worked on by students, faculty, and community members.

Students were welcomed to East St. Louis by some of ESLARP's Community Partners

Christina Fisher of Village Theatre and Community Concepts

Rev. Bradley Watkins of Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House

Martha Watts of Eagle's Nest