Gateway CDFI Finances Affordable Homes in Historic North St. Louis Neighborhoods

Tabernacle Community Development Corporation was formed in 2014 when The Tabernacle, a church on Ashland Avenue in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood of North St. Louis City, identified a vision to revitalize two neighborhoods in its footprint: JeffVanderLou and The Ville. Andre Alexander stepped up to lead Tabernacle CDC in this journey.

Tabernacle CDC created the Affordable Rental Program to accomplish its vision and create safe homes for area residents. The organization purchases properties and renovates them so that they can become new, affordable homes for area families. Moreover, rent is set based on ability to pay so that families can build wealth and achieve financial stability. There is no shortage of neighborhood residents hoping to live in these renovated homes and Tabernacle CDC maintains a long list of interested tenants.

Tabernacle CDC is also passionate about saving existing buildings and honoring the neighborhood’s architectural integrity. This includes preserving elements dating back to the 1920s like pocket doors, crown molding, and fireplace mantels in the homes it renovates. This attention to detail and dedication to saving existing buildings contributes the success and revitalization of the entire neighborhood.

However, financing these projects is not easy. This is made even more difficult because of appraisal gaps, deflated home values, and disinvestment within the broader community caused by racist housing policies like redlining.

This is where Gateway CDFI stepped in to help.

Gateway CDFI helps fill the need for non-traditional loan products and development consulting services to under-served areas. This made them the perfect match for Tabernacle CDC and their affordable housing initiative in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood.

Jaycee Greene, Community Development Lender at Gateway CDFI, met Andre Alexander in 2018 at an event called Investment Connection hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. That’s where he learned about Tabernacle CDC’s vision and proposed housing initiatives.

“Given their attributes, the financial wherewithal of the CDC, and the strength of Andre’s leadership, Gateway CDFI was able to provide a significant loan commitment within three months of the Investment Connection event and closed on a loan within six months,” said Jaycee.

In addition to an investment of $400,000, Gateway CDFI was also able to connect Andre and Tabernacle CDC to other nonprofits and funders. Already, they have renovated three multifamily buildings as a result of their relationship with Gateway CDFI and now have their eye on additional projects nearby, including the creation of a community resource center.

Gateway CDFI is a certified community development financial institution (CDFI). It was established in 2009 to provide nontraditional loan products and development consulting services to underserved areas, including communities in Missouri, Southern Illinois, and Eastern Kansas.

Gateway CDFI 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.

This story was adapted and all photos were reproduced with permission of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Open Vault blog, Oct. 23, 2019: Rebuilding Homes and Restoring Hope in North St. Louis” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ Open Vault Blog.

The Access Foundation Cohosts PPE Giveaway

On December 12, The Access Foundation partnered with East St Louis Sr High School, Operation Food Search, The T STL, and St. Louis Area Diaper Bank to serve hundreds of families in the Metro East with food, diapers, and personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks.

Watch video footage of the event >>

Screenshot from video by the Access Foundation

Prosperity Connection Partnered to Provide COVID-19 Rental Assistance in 2020

Screenshot from Prosperity Connection’s 2020 year-end newsletter

Prosperity Connection partnered with Wells Fargo, PNC Foundation, Equifax Foundation, & U.S. Bank Foundation to support 179 renters impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with forgivable rent assistance. Renters referred by partnering nonprofit landlords had access to up to $2,000 in forgivable loans to cover multiple months of rent.

Read the full story >>

Collaborative Receives Grant to Study Home Repair Needs of Older Adults in St. Louis City

Photo by Jessica Rogen, via UMSL

Exciting news about home repair in the City of St. Louis! The Community Innovation & Action Center at UMSL received a grant from the RRF Foundation for Aging to conduct a study of the home repair needs of older adults in the city of St. Louis. Congrats to the grant partners: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, St. Louis Association of Community Organizations (SLACO), Rebuilding Together St. Louis, the St. Louis Vacancy Collaborative, Mission: St. Louis, St. Louis Senior Fund, & the St. Louis Community Development Administration.

Read the full story >>

Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC 2020 Annual Report

Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC produces 7 years worth of community development into the 2020 Annual Report. Driven by the entrepreneur spirit and mission at hand creating a positive impact on the city of St. Louis and neighborhoods like Shaw, Tower Grove South, and Southwest Garden.

Read the full story

"Photo by Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC'

Logan University Partners with St. Louis County to Deliver Chiropractic Care

Chesterfield-based Logan University, a private chiropractic and health science school, is teaming up with the St. Louis County Department of Public Health to advance chiropractic care for residents. Partnership will be supported by the St. Louis Regional Health Commission!

Read the full story

Photo Credit St. Louis Regional Health Commission

YouthBridge Community Foundation- Thanks in the Midst of Trial

Nonprofits have been on the front lines of the response to the COVID-19 crisis from the very beginning, at the same time, being one of the hardest hit sectors! During this time of thanksgiving, a thank you message to nonprofits moving diligently forward and to the many donors lifting them up in these difficult days.

Read full story

Photo Credit YouthBridge Community Foundation

How COVID-19 Has Changed Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis' 2020 Home 4 the Holidays

Screenshot from video captured by KMOV4

Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis’ Home 4 the Holidays initiative works with local families each year to help them build their own homes with 350 hours of sweat equity. With volunteer participation limited this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, construction is moving more slowly than usual, but homebuyer Darisha has continued to work on building her home with the Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis construction crew.

Watch the full story >>

North Newstead Association Releases 2020 3rd Quarter Annual Report

In normal times, mid-November is when North Newstead Association would be gathering together to celebrate with their neighbors and supporters at their Annual Community Development Celebration and Fundraiser at the Barnett on Washington. This year, since the pandemic had other plans in mind, NNA is inviting you to instead take a look at what’s been keeping them busy this year as they work harder than ever to support the neighborhoods they serve.

Read North Newstead Association’s 3rd Quarter Annual Report >>

View fullsize

Image by North Newstead Association

Cornerstone Corporation Announces New Executive Director

Cornerstone Corporation is excited to announce that after a rigorous search process, they have selected Monique Thomas as the next Executive Director to lead the organization.

Read the full story >>

View fullsize

Image by Cornerstone Corporation

CBN Members Partner on Senior Housing Project in Bevo Mill

Image published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and provided to them by Midwest BankCentre; design is by fellow CBN member Rosemann & Associates.

Midwest BankCentre is donating its current property at the intersection of Gravois Avenue and Morganford Road, land worth $1.6 million, to Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC for a 53-unit affordable housing project, Crossroads Senior Living at Bevo Mill. TGNCDC is also aiming to work with the Missouri Housing Development Commission, St. Louis Affordable Housing Commission, St. Louis Community Development Administration, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, and fellow CBN members the St. Louis Equity Fund and U.S. Bank on the project’s financing package. If the project receives approval for tax credits and other financing assistance, it’s slated to be complete by the end of 2022.

Read the full story >>

DSCC Partners to Host Environmental Racism Solution Series

Last year, Action St. Louis, Arch City Defenders, Dutchtown South Community Corporation, & Sierra Club worked with the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University School of Law to produce the Environmental Racism in St. Louis Report. As a follow-up, the partners recently hosted the Environmental Racism Solution Series, a set of five educational virtual discussions. Each workshop began with a presentation highlighting the report’s findings on a specific issue and then moved into a discussion group.

Read the full story >>

Image by Dutchtown South Community Corporation

Cornerstone Corporation Announces West End Mini Grant Awardees 2020

Over the past year, residents and other key stakeholders have engaged in numerous conversations to develop a shared vision for the future of the West End neighborhood.

Thanks to support from Missouri Foundation for Health, Cornerstone Corporation was able to build on the momentum created by this planning process by funding resident-led community engagement activities. Fifteen applications were received totaling $57,165; eleven of those submissions were eligible based on the grant criteria. A Grant Review Committee consisting of five residents reviewed the eligible applications and recommended six projects for grant awards totaling $18,500.

Read the full story in the latest West End Plan newsletter >>

Learn more about the West End Plan on their website >>

View fullsize

Image by Cornerstone Corporation/West End Plan

SLACO Supports Get-Out-the-Vote Efforts with Help from Volunteers

The St. Louis Association of Community Organizations (SLACO) has been working with volunteers to make calls reminding voters to get to the polls. The calls are non-partisan and serve as a reminder and opportunity to share information about free rides to the polls.

Watch the full story >>

Lutheran Development Group's Blight to Bright Program Works with Youth to Clean Neighborhood Lots

Photo by Lutheran Development Group

Lutheran Development Group’s Blight to Bright summer youth program cleaned over 40 vacant lots and worked with neighborhood stakeholders to clean up overgrown areas near homes, businesses, and community gardens this year. Participating youth have had the opportunity within the program to focus on future job skills and make pathways to future employment.

Read the full story >>

Neighborhood Leadership Fellows Graduates 2020 Cohort

The Neighborhood Leadership Fellows (NLF) recently graduated their 3rd cohort of fellows! Take a moment to read the stories of all 22 graduating members in their 2020 Yearbook.

The mission of Neighborhood Leadership Fellows is to increase and amplify the voices of North St. Louis City and North St. Louis County residents at the civic decision-making tables in order to produce more equitable regional policies for neighborhoods.

Neighborhood Leadership Fellows is a nine-month advanced leadership training for community leaders that provides hands-on training during a curriculum emphasizing:

• Educational Workshops on policies, new research and innovation that promote equitable neighborhood development (housing, education, economic development, public safety)

• Tactical Trainings on communication, followability, organizing

• Positional Power Trainings for boards, commissions, committees, and public office

• Collaborative Learning through dialogue, discussion, and presentations among fellows and experts

• Mentoring and Networking with other civic leaders and peers

Neighborhood Leadership Fellows is an advanced leadership training program of UMSL, MU Extension and the St. Louis Promise Zone-St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.

Read more about the Neighborhood Leadership Academy 2020 Fellows in their 2020 Yearbook!

HomeScreen Partners with Employment Connection to Create New Landlord Database for Non-Profit Social Service Providers

HomeScreen, an initiative of Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC, and Employment Connection are partnering to create a database of landlords who are willing to work with local nonprofits to help those most in need of housing by the end of this year. Landlords using HomeScreen will have the opportunity to list their available rental units exclusively to non-profit social service providers (SSPs) at no cost.

Read the full story >>

IFF Nurtures Urban Sprouts Child Development Center

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)

Rebuilding Together St. Louis Supports Repairs at 18 Homes for 2020 Fall Rebuilding Day

View fullsize

Photo by Rebuilding Together St. Louis

Rebuilding Together St. Louis recently hosted their 2020 Fall Rebuilding Day, which drew over 200 volunteers to 18 homes over 2 days to help improve home safety, comfort, & accessibility for senior adults who otherwise couldn’t have afforded repairs.

See more photos from the event on Rebuilding Together STL’s Facebook page >>

Sinai Family Life Center Supports Students & Families Through Transition to Remote Learning

Photo by Derek Holtmann, Belleville News-Democrat

Sinai Family Life Center has been hosting an enrichment program to support East St. Louis students and their families through the transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students bring their school district-issued Chromebooks and work on their daily lessons, receive educational support from former teachers, and are served breakfast and lunch.

Read the full story >>