For Steven Tarver, Cairo has always been more than a place—it’s been home. And now, after years of finding his way through life’s ups and downs, Steven is helping to shape Cairo’s future, channeling his experiences to uplift the community and its youth.

Steven’s connection to Cairo runs deep. His family has long been rooted in the area, with both his mother and father being the eldest of large families. “My dad and my mom each had 10+ siblings, ” Steven says. “So this place has always been home.” Yet, like many from the area, life took Steven away for a time. After his parents separated, he moved to Gary, Indiana, at the end of sixth grade—a move that was, for Steven, a real culture shock.

In Gary, Steven found himself navigating the world of gangs and violence. It was a sharp contrast to the tight-knit, quieter life he had known in Cairo. “It was tough. Single mom, three boys, and suddenly we’re in a world that felt like it was defined by survival,” Steven reflects. Despite the challenges, Steven eventually found his way, graduating from high school and joining the military as a way to escape the dangers of the streets.

His time in the military took him far from the streets of Gary and even further from Cairo. Stationed in Fulda, West Germany as a medical specialist, Steve found himself in yet another unfamiliar world. “I went from the streets to the woods,” he laughs, recalling the 200 days his unit spent camping in the German forests the first year. But the military wasn’t where Steven saw his future. After completing his service, he returned stateside, only to face a different kind of challenge—a car accident that left him bedridden for over a year.

As Steven lay recovering, he had time to reflect on his life’s direction. “It gave me a chance to think,” Steven says. “I realized I had led a lot of people the wrong way, and I wanted to change that.” That reflection led him to nonprofit work, starting with Christ Central Ministries in Columbia, South Carolina, where he worked with the homeless. “I’ve always had a love for kids,” Steven explains. “I know the pull of the streets, and I know how easy it is to go the wrong way. But I also know the power of reaching out and giving people a way to express themselves.”

That desire to reach young people led Steven to start his own nonprofit, Bamness, Inc.— By Any Means Necessary, a program aimed at helping kids express themselves through writing and positive communication. “At the time, I loved rap music,” Steve says, “so I created a program called Positively Speaking, where kids could write their own lyrics. It was all about channeling their energy into something positive.”

It was during this time that Steven felt the pull back to Cairo. After years of living in other places, the town’s 2011 water crisis, which threatened to flood parts of the area, brought Cairo back into focus. “I couldn’t stand the thought of them having to choose between saving the lives people had built or saving bean fields,” Steven says. “That’s when I decided it was time to come back.”

Returning to Cairo in 2012, Steve quickly got involved with the local community. He started by helping with summer programs, bringing his Positively Speaking initiative to local students. It wasn’t long before residents began encouraging him to run for a seat on the school board. Though he lost his first bid by just 14 votes, Steven didn’t give up.

“I kept pushing because I knew there was more to be done,” Steven says. In 2020, Steven was elected to the Cairo School Board, where he now serves on the Student Services and Parent Engagement committees. His focus is on creating opportunities for students and fostering a sense of pride in the community’s youth. “Our kids need to see more. They need to know there’s a world beyond what they’ve always known, and we need to bring that world to them.”

Steven’s passion for Cairo doesn’t stop with the school board. He’s also on the board of the Rise Community Market, which recently opened Cairo’s first grocery co-op in seven years. “The momentum is beautiful,” Steven says with pride. “The seeds that were planted years ago are finally starting to sprout, and I’m just glad I toughed it out and came back to be part of it.”

Now, Steve is preparing for his next venture—Kingdom Ties & Tees, LLC, a business aimed at empowering local students. The idea is to teach kids in grades 7-12 how to design their own logos, create custom t-shirts, and build small businesses around their creative ideas. “It’s not just about making money,” Steven explains. “It’s about teaching them how to be self-sufficient, how to take ownership of something and see it through.”

For Steven, Cairo is more than just his hometown—it’s a place of potential, a community ready to rise. “This town has been through a lot, but there’s so much more to it than what people see from the outside,” Steven says. “I want our kids to know that they can be the ones to write the next chapter. They’re the future of Cairo, and they’re worth staying in the fight for.”