CBN Member Bright Spots
Image by DutchtownSTL.org and featured in the original NextSTL story
Lutheran Development Group has received funding to complete Marquette Homes, which will bring 60 new and rehabbed affordable housing units to the Dutchtown and Gravois Park neighborhoods! The project spans 14 buildings and lots, 54,000 square feet for residential space, and one commercial unit.
Screenshot from Fox 2 News story
Fox 2 News recently spotlighted the work that Beyond Housing is doing to help eliminate health disparities in the 24:1 communities they serve. Their partnership with Christian Northeast Hospital focuses on supporting residents with health challenges, particularly those struggling with type II diabetes and childhood asthma.
Missouri Lawyers Media has honored Joel Ferber, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri’s (LSEM’s) Director of Advocacy; Chuck Hatfield, a Partner at Stinson LLP; and Lowell Pearson, Jefferson City Office Managing Partner at Husch Blackwell LLP, with the 2022 “Lawyer of the Year” award for their joint work on Doyle v. Tidball, which resulted in a unanimous Missouri Supreme Court ruling to expand Medicaid coverage statewide.
The International Institute of St. Louis, the Archdiocese of St. Louis, ArchGrants, and other partners have announced a plan to help Afghan refugees in St. Louis by offering housing assistance, business grants, community resources, and other services. They’re also aiming to attract other Afghans to the region.
CBN members DeSales Community Development, Dutchtown South Community Corporation, Employment Connection, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Park Central Development, and Rebuilding Together St. Louis have been awarded $370,000 in funds from the City of St. Louis’ Affordable Housing Trust Fund to support housing and social services projects. The Affordable Housing Commission awarded roughly $5.3 million for FY 2022.
Baden School, which will soon become Baden School Apartment Complex. Image from the St. Louis Public Schools website.
CBN members Rise Community Development, Lutheran Development Group, and North Newstead Association, along with partners DOORWAYS and Efficacy Consulting and Development, have received over $49 million from the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) to complete 4 affordable housing development projects.
Screenshot from Fox 2 News story
Fox 2 News recently spotlighted Beyond Housing’s holiday gift-giving program, which provided holiday gifts to children in need this year thanks in part to the time and effort of seniors at Beyond Housing’s Rosie Shields Manor.
Justine PETERSEN has made the 2021 Top-Rated List of GreatNonprofits, an online platform for community recommendations of charities and nonprofits!
The St. Louis Art Place Initiative—which was co-founded in 2019 by the Incarnate Word Foundation, Regional Arts Commission, and CBN member the Kranzberg Arts Foundation—recently sold the first of 20 affordable, artist-owned homes they’re developing in St. Louis’ Gravois Park neighborhood.
Photo by Rise
Rise Community Development hosted their 2021 Transforming the Landscape Gala on November 13, 2021. Over 275 people attended and enjoyed the Lifting Our Communities Awards, dinner and drinks, and long-overdue time together.
The Nature Conservancy has partnered with CBN members Beyond Housing and Forest Releaf of Missouri on the Treesilience initiative, which will remove dead, dying, or dangerous trees and plant 100 new trees in North St. Louis County to help reduce air pollution, heat islands, and floods.
CBN members Park Central Development, Prosperity Connection, and Legal Services of Eastern Missouri have partnered with the Collector of Revenue’s Office to launch the St. Louis Real Estate Tax Assistance Fund (RETAF). RETAF’s goal is to help economically distressed families save their homes from real estate tax foreclosure. The fund will be available to eligible St. Louis City homeowners starting in the spring of 2022.
Lutheran Development Group’s Blight to Bright Program, now in its fifth year, employs youth from South St. Louis City for blight remediation on vacant lots owned by St Louis’ Land Reutilization Authority (LRA). The program also provides basic job skills and financial education.
Image by Lutheran Development Group
Image by DeSales Community Development
DeSales Community Development launched Friends of South Grand on November 15, 2021 to raise funds in support of the restoration and ongoing maintenance of the South Grand medians between Arsenal and DeTonty Avenue. Friends of South Grand was made possible through support and sponsorship from Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC, South Grand CID, and the leadership of St. Louis City Alderwomen Christine Ingrassia and Annie Rice.
Other early supporters include the neighborhood associations of Compton Heights, Compton Hill Reservoir Square, Shaw, and Tower Grove East as well as City Property Company. Tower Grove Park is providing technical assistance.
The RAISE discretionary grant program (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) has awarded Great Rivers Greenway $15 million in construction funds to support completion of the northern segment of the Brickline Greenway, from Fairground Park to Forest Park Avenue.
Image by Great Rivers Greenway
On November 15, the Neighborhood Vacancy Initiative team at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri talked with St. Louis on the Air about the work they do to help neighborhoods fight vacancy, disinvestment, and displacement.
Photo by Humans of St. Louis / Lindy Drew
A recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch article highlighted the work that CBN member Employment Connection is doing with Cure Violence, a program that supports violence “interrupters” as they talk with young people, parents, and neighbors to find non-violent solutions to problems.
IFF’s Stronger Nonprofits Initiative offers 14 months of capacity building to help People of Color-led nonprofits navigate systemic barriers to accessing capital and real estate opportunities. Ten St. Louis-area nonprofits were chosen to participate in the latest cohort, including CBN members Cornerstone Corporation, North Newstead Association, Northside Community Housing, and Rise Community Development.
Spanish Lake Community Development Corporation (SLCDC) celebrated the completion of a Master Plan for its central commercial area with a Fall Festival on October 30, 2021. The SLCDC team is working to build up the area between Pattern Drive and Parker Road, including by creating a new Town Center Shopping Center.
Flyer by Spanish Lake CDC
The University of Missouri-St. Louis has been supporting the founding of the St. Louis Anchor Action Network (STLAAN), a coalition of local anchor institutions that’s aiming to increase the share of Black and Hispanic employees in their workforces and grow spending with businesses owned by people of color. STLAAN hired its inaugural Director, Stefani Weeden-Smith, this year.
Screenshot from the STLAAN website
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