How East St. Louis churches are supporting families who can't access remote learning

Belleville News-Democrat - 10/7/2020

Oct. 7--EAST ST. LOUIS -- More from the series

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Internet access in East St. Louis

Schools are using remote learning because of the coronavirus pandemic, and some students in East St. Louis and the surrounding communities struggle to find internet access.

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East St. Louis families scramble for internet access to engage in remote learning

How East St. Louis churches are supporting families who can't access remote learning

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When Dennis Jackson heard about schools in East St. Louis School District 189 transitioning to remote learning, he knew he had a divine calling to help.

As the executive director of Sinai Family Life Center, a faith-based family resource center affiliated with Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in East St. Louis, he wanted to use his organization to help parents and children meet the inevitable challenges ahead.

"Now we noticed that in the district there are some challenges with kids who are learning remotely," Jackson said. "Say for instance you're a single mom and you're going to work and maybe the older child is watching the younger kids, but no one's really being responsible for making sure kids are signing on for remote learning."

Plus, many families faced the challenge of poor internet access.

East St. Louis and nearby Washington Park have 200 or less residential fixed high-speed internet connections per 1,000 households, the lowest rate in St. Clair County, according to a Belleville News-Democrat analysis of 2017 Federal Communications Commission data.

The issue is among reasons Sinai Family Life Center opened its doors for students in early September so they could get technology and educational support. Other East St. Louis churches are following suit.

Bridging the gap

Since September 8, Sinai Family Life Center on St. Louis Avenue has held an enrichment program at its facility for East St. Louis students throughout the week. Students can bring their Chromebooks provided by the district to work on daily lessons. They're also served breakfast and lunch along with receiving educational assistance from former teachers.

Jackson said the program will run until it's no longer needed. A maximum of 25 students are allowed to attend, and workstations are spread six feet apart, following social distancing guidelines.

"We thought as being faith-based, whatever service that we can assist to ensure the kids are in a safe place, a quiet place for study to give parents another layer of comfort to make sure their kids are doing what they're supposed to," Jackson said.

Terrielle Warren brings her three children to Sinai Family Life Center's enrichment program. She said having her kids at the program was the only way she could go back to her job at FedEx.

"Their dad works overnights and I work during the day, so we needed somewhere that was safe to help with the e-learning," said Warren, an East St. Louis resident. "We were making it work, but I just wasn't able to go back to work. When the church said they were going to start the program, it worked out so I could go back to being full-time."

"It's good when you can drop them off and that the staff cares and it's not just a job for them."

Warren doesn't have internet service in her home, which is why she's thankful for District 189 distributing hotspots. One of her children attends Lincoln Middle School and the other two attend Gordon Bush Elementary School.

"The school did provide the hotspot, but what happened was that because so many people needed them, we were able to only get one hotspot," Warren said. "But it definitely helps because we're able to connect all three Chromebooks to it."

"When the girls first went to remote learning, we were able to get internet access, but a couple of months later the price went up. I was furloughed from FedEx at the time and it was a little too much for us to afford. But now that I'm able to go back full-time, I should be able to get it within the next few weeks."

About 40% of East St. Louis residents live below the federal poverty line. Jackson said that's important to note when thinking about the lack of internet access.

"The digital divide is real in our low-income community, and I think that's something that needs to be addressed by those with more power than me," Jackson said. "We're left behind because we don't have access to information, the key to learning"

Macedonia Baptist Church on East Broadway is another church that's dedicated to filling in the gaps for digital equity.

The church's program, titled "The Village E-Learning Support Initiative," offers the same services as Sinai Family Life Center.

Additionally, the program, which also started on Sept. 8, is serving 15 students a day, and classrooms adhere to COVID-19 restrictions.

Pastor J. Kevin James Jr. said he'll follow District 189's plans for in-person learning to determine how long his church will be open to students. James has been the pastor for four years.

"For us, it was really birthed out of this COVID-19 experience and hearing about how students were struggling in the spring," James said. "What we thought about was having some level of a remote site that students could come but not only plug into the Wi-Fi access but get the educational support there to make sure that they're being attentive to classes and helping them if they get stuck.

"Some students have parents who may be working throughout the day and they might not have the adult supervision there to be with them throughout the day. As a church, our motto is that we are a church for all generations and that we are a reaching, teaching and building church, which is how the name 'the village' was born, which is taken from an African proverb 'It takes a village to raise a child'."

"We are called to be connectors"

James said he hopes students attending the program feel a sense of community, especially as they encounter feelings of isolation because of the pandemic.

"I hope that they feel supported and loved," James said. "I think that in this day and age some students in our community may feel a lack of that, especially from the church. I hope that out of this program our students see another extension of their village with our church that is providing them with a safe environment but also investing in their future."

New Life Community Church on State Street began its e-learning support program in mid-September. The initiative is eight weeks long, and students are expected to bring their district-assigned Chromebook and materials for classes. Breakfast and lunch are provided.Twenty slots are available.

"We're always looking for gaps in our community and seeing how we could help fill in those gaps," Wyvetta Granger, co-pastor of New Life Community Church, said. "For us, when it came down to talking about internet access, we knew we had the building and Wi-Fi and we knew that families were frustrated. So our answer was how can we safely house the children and help with the mental health of them and their parents. We're not a tutoring service, but what we wanted to do was to provide a safe space where students can stay on task."

James agrees. He said helping a community in need is a church's duty and a critical part of Biblical history.

"As a church, we are called to be connectors whether it's connecting people to Jesus Christ or connecting them to resources," James said. "Throughout the Old and New Testament, you always hear how the church looked out for those who found themselves less fortunate in a financial way. We know that as a church that we are connected to God. We the church are called to be the image of God in Christ in the world, then we have to be the connectors as well.

" As we know with issues like broadband, it's significantly impacting the people who we serve. East St. Louis is a majority Black city and majority of my membership is Black, so if we know that this issue is impacting our city, then we have to be the connectors."

Below is more information on the respective enrichment services:

Sinai Family Life Center: Monday-Friday. 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Students ages 5-14 are eligible to participate. Those interested must complete a scholarship application to attend. Contact 618-482-3440 to register.

Macedonia Baptist Church: Monday-Thursday. 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Services are free. Contact 618-274-1373 to register.

New Life Community Church: Monday-Friday. 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Services are free. Students enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade are eligible to participate. Contact 618-875-5989 to register.

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