- What is the purpose of your work?…what is the format of the group project? What individual products does this project consist of and in what forms?
Individual Contribution: I have been doing research on grassroots organizations and non-profits that can help the residents of Cahokia or give resources that the residents can benefit from. Last semester, I compiled a list of grassroots organizations that are in the Cahokia Heights area or surrounding communities that can help. This semester, I hope to compile a bigger list or get in contact with the grassroots organizations to get a more personal account of their resources and work.
The overall purpose of the project is to gain exposure to the community of Cahokia Heights who are dealing with a water equity crisis that creates issues in a variety of domains such as residency, access to healthy foods, and public health.
The purpose of my individual project is to find government funded agencies that provide resources for communities in need, specifically those that have a main agenda of restoring property, provide funding, health aid and could help with any issues that the residents of Cahokia Heights are currently facing. – Jada Parker
The purpose of my individual project is to help residents who rent their homes in Cahokia. Because of the lower economic status of the Cahokia community and frequent flooding, renting a home in Cahokia can be complicated. There is data from a survey conducted about landlord-tenant relationship dynamics and helpful information for tenants in the area. — Keith Hawkins
The purpose of my individual project is to give Cahokia Heights residents resources that can be used through different aspects of their lives. I’ve compiled a list of grassroots organizations and non-profit organizations that offer resources for residents in Cahokia Heights and the surrounding area. -Sa’Dae Cooper
The purpose of my individual project is to give the residents of Cahokia Heights a constructed list of local businesses. With the lower economic status of Cahokia Heights along with the underfunding; businesses are being shut down, and residents are not being made aware.
The purpose of my project is to give insight on the history of the water crisis, the affection it has on the residents and what has been done to help solve the problem most people in cities in Illinois doesn’t know anything about this and I want to spread more attention, show the residents so we would see people and not just numbers. I also want to bring attention to this problem so that other organizations or people would like to help the residents and city – Lindell Blount
The purpose of my project is to give a native perspective on Flooding and the aftermath of water infrastructure. Creating a Q&A for residents and future residents living in the area of Cahokia Heights. It also created the opportunity to prepare for future flooding and the issues with it. I want to create the space to not only inform but also help residents who face these struggles. -Julez Hill
- Who is this project made for?
We are creating this project for our community partners Heartlands Conservancy and Cahokia Public Library but mostly for residents in Cahokia Heights.
This project is created for the residents of Cahokia Heights, the library, our community partners
- Why is it important?
This project is important because it is a way to not only provide much needed resources to the citizens of Cahokia Heights, but also to educate our other stakeholders. To let the, know that this is something that we are looking into and we are aware of the issue. We want to spread awareness so that the community can start seeing results.
- What ethical considerations?
We should keep in mind that we are discussing a sensitive topic that is Cahokia community members’ everyday lives. Try our best to not make the story about trauma and sympathy farming.
- What working practices will you adapt?
Some working practices that can be adapted are periodical check-ins on the website. A good habit can be to set goals on adding information to the website periodically to have a consistent rate of improvement throughout the semester.
- What are the specific avenues of distribution that will make it so your project reaches relevant stakeholders and communities
- Internet
- Social Media
- Presentations
- Meetings
- For each avenue of distribution, how and when will you share the group and individual contributions?
If you are posting a single plan on behalf of your entire group, please include the names of those group members who participated in the building of this plan.
In your plan:
What is your story?
What have you achieved?
What does this mean to a broader audience?
Scrolly telling outline
- Begin scrolly telling a brief story on a person living in Cahokia
- Go into history of Cahokia (Lindell’s pictures from archives)
- Juju- Connect with the people(natives) of Cahokia Heights/ East Saint Louis. Hearing personal testimonies of the struggles with water infrastructure.
- Nadia- provide a created map that showcases different categories of businesses that support the residents’ basic needs.
- Jada – including government funded agencies that provide funding, restore property damage, health aid, and all a rounded much needed resources for the residents of Cahokia heights. Showcase agencies that I think best suite the needs of the residents of Cahokia.
- Sa ’Dae – Creating a list of resources to educate residents on the resources available and the accessibility they have for each resource. Connecting them with grassroots organizations that can provide benefits to the community.
- Keith’s piece on landlord-tenant relationship dynamics in Cahokia and tips on landlord-tenant laws and what to do if your right are violated as a tenant. Give anonymous examples of landlord-tenant relationships from the survey.