Urban Sprouts is one of the only mixed-income, Reggio-inspired Early Childhood Education (ECE) centers in Missouri.
If you visit the Urban Sprouts Development Center website, you’ll find a mission statement that reads, “We envision a community where the ideas of children matter, a society where education is a right, and a world [where] the image of each child is valued.”
From its bright and spacious new center in University City, it provides high-quality programs to 124 children, 57% of whose care is state or federally subsidized. Urban Sprouts is a favorite ECE choice for a diverse set of families in St. Louis. While Urban Sprouts is a high-quality program that families love (they have a waiting list of over 200 children!), facilities used to be a major issue.
Walking through the natural-light-filled, colorful, engaging center, you probably wouldn’t guess that the program was once being operated in two relatively old buildings with significant maintenance issues. Every time it rained or a pipe burst, the building flooded and Ellicia (Director of Urban Sprouts) was met with a shrug from her landlords, telling her to cover the cost herself. During her first five years of operating Urban Sprouts, she spent more than $100,000 repairing buildings that she didn’t even own.
The expansion of Urban Sprouts into its new facility, however, didn’t come without a few challenges. During the planning and development of the center, Ellicia faced a number of roadblocks related to its financing, construction, licensing, and opening.
That’s where IFF comes into the story. Thanks to IFF’s technical expertise and special financial tools, Ellicia’s vision could come to life.
IFF managed and financed the project with nearly $2 million of funds from the New Markets Tax Credit program. Other sources of financing included a separate IFF loan, support from Youth-In-Need, and an equity contribution from Urban Sprouts itself.
“IFF is so proud to have partnered with Urban Sprouts to develop its new high-quality early education center in University City.” said Stephen Westbrooks, Executive Director of IFF’s St. Louis region. “Partnering with organizations like Urban Sprouts to plan, finance, and build high quality facilities is core to the work that IFF does in the communities we serve.”
As a CDFI, IFF is a mission-driven lender, real estate consultant, and developer that helps communities thrive by creating opportunities for low-income communities and people with disabilities. Key to our success has been a deep sense of purpose, a broad perspective, and a relentless focus on achieving positive results. Social return can coincide with financial return.
IFF is the largest nonprofit CDFI in the Midwest and operates out of their Chicago headquarters with six regional offices, including St. Louis.
IFF is a member of the St. Louis CDFI Coalition, a partnership among eight CDFIs that offer an array of capital, development, and consulting services and share a common mission to empower a comprehensively healthy St. Louis community through support for nonprofits, small businesses, and communities facing disinvestment.
(excepts for this post were taken from The First Step Toward Equity: Building a Better Future Through Early Childhood Education in St. Louis)
