Archives of Community

meet along the way: The Ugly Quilt Group

This story was first published in the December 2023 issue of The Best Years as “Ugly Quilt Ministry: Bedrolls help people on streets keep warm throughout winter.” In the early 2000s, the Ugly Quilt Ministry at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Cape Girardeau made 100 bedrolls out of mismatched fabrics for people who were […]
1 year ago

meet along the way: Amy Loomis-McDonald

This story was published in the May 2024 issue of The Best Years as “Faces of Southeast Missouri: Amy Loomis-McDonald.” Amy Loomis-McDonald, program director of Thrive Birth to Five, says her children are the reason she does what she does. She has been a foster parent since 1996 and has four adopted children, guardianship of […]
1 year ago

Meet Along the Way: Nancy Johnson

This story was first published in the March 2024 issue of The Best Years as “Faces of Southeast Missouri: Nancy Johnson.” While sitting in the Emergency Room (ER) waiting room one evening in 1990, Nancy Johnson decided to become a nurse. Her friend’s husband had been in a fatal automobile accident, and two women in […]
1 year ago

Meet Along the Way: Debbie Crane

This story was first published as “Community Cookbook: Rice Casserole with Debbie Crane from Dexter, Mo.” in the April 2024 issue of The Best Years. By Jasmine Jones Debbie Crane grew up in Dexter, Mo., but somehow, she says she didn’t know what Branson, Mo., or Silver Dollar City were until her mother asked to […]
1 year ago

Let’s Talk: Autumn Grim and Georganne Syler, public health

Autumn Grim, MPH, CPHA, began working at the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center in 2019. Prior to that, she had been with the Missouri Health Department for more than 20 years, where she worked as the epidemiologist program coordinator for the state. In 2023, she became the director of the Cape Girardeau County Public […]
2 years ago

Let’s Talk: Rodaina Nasreldin and Karla Cornelius, entrepreneurship

Karla Cornelius, owner of the coffee shop El Kolibri in Cape Girardeau, first met Rodaina Nasreldin when Rodaina came into El Kolibri for a cup of coffee. They started talking and realized they had a lot in common: As Karla had been an exchange student from Mexico City at Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) 25 […]
2 years ago

Let’s Talk: Tameka Randle and Rachael Long, community strengthening

Tameka Randle and Rachael Long work together daily with residents of South Cape and other partners and volunteers to transform the South Cape neighborhood through education, housing and wellness initiatives, using the Purpose Built Community model. Tameka works as the executive director of People Organized to Revitalize Community Healing (PORCH) and serves on the Missouri […]
2 years ago