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A model for creating a stronger, more equitable, and prosperous St. Louis—once and for all

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Once and for All is an effort to address the root source of our region’s longstanding challenges—from failing schools to high crime rates, slow economic growth, and our region’s steady decline in prosperity as well as national prominence and influence.

A wealth of research published by Washington University in St. Louis, University of Missouri–St. Louis, Forward Through Ferguson, Greater St. Louis Inc., and others shows how our high concentrations of poverty and communities in decline don’t just harm those most directly impacted. The effects of these conditions have a detrimental impact on our entire region.

All of this is why, in order for the St. Louis region to be competitive and successful in the years ahead, it’s vital that we invest in our under-resourced communities to address the source of our region’s challenges and create a stronger, more prosperous St. Louis—once and for all.

WATCH ALL THE VIDEOS, READ ALL THE LETTERS  on creating a stronger, more prosperous St. Louis—once and for all.

Dear Lou, You have the most generous heart. So many of your residents put their energy, time, and money toward something positive, something they believe in. Per capita charitable giving in St. Louis County is the highest in the state and earns top scores on rankings of our nation’s most generous places. Collectively, we’ve invested in world-class cultural amenities, outdoor attractions, places of worship and healing and gathering spots where we can come together to enjoy good food and good fun. I’m an optimist by nature. I disagree when people say there’s not enough investment in St. Louis. If anything, there is so much generosity. We are such a generous region. But we’re not always efficient, and our efforts are often duplicated. It would be great if we could be more strategic and unified in our objectives, otherwise we will never move the needle for our region to advance. I believe it’s possible for us to come together around a common goal. Early in my career, I was a lobbyist in St. Louis City and St. Louis County. I had the opportunity to truly get to know our leaders, their interests, and their values, regardless of their party. I learned that while we may disagree about the best path to accomplish our goals, at the end of the day, we all want the same things. We want people to feel safe. We want crime to go down. We want businesses to thrive. We want newcomers to move here and longtime residents to stay. When we operate from our shared interests, it’s impressive how many stakeholders can move something forward, no matter how big the goal. I acknowledge that there are real challenges on the ground, but I believe we can work together to foster opportunities for all. It’s also possible to focus on region-wide priorities while also impacting lives on a day-to-day basis. As a representative of construction contractors, our industry provides pathways into life-changing careers that provide generational wealth. While we focus on industry-wide priorities, we also dedicate time and resources to educate young people who might not know of these opportunities. The footprint Beyond Housing serves will always be near and dear to my heart. My father was an immigrant from Sicily who owned a union cabinetry shop in Pagedale for 35 years. Through his hard work and the community’s support of his business, he was able to provide for our family well and send seven children to Catholic schools. My hope is focused through my lens as a man of faith, a father, a husband, and an uncle. I hope everyone in the entire St. Louis community will have access to secure housing, a safe living environment, quality education, fulfilling careers, thriving families, and economic growth. My vision is that we will continue investing in St. Louis as a global brand. We must be smarter and more strategic to impact lives and change our region’s trajectory for the future. Sincerely, Anthony Lancia Vice President of Labor Relations at AGC of Missouri

Dear Lou,

You have the most generous heart. So many of your residents put their energy, time, and money toward something positive, something they believe in. Per capita charitable giving in St. Louis County is the highest in the state and earns top scores on rankings of our nation’s most generous places.

Collectively, we’ve invested in world-class cultural amenities, outdoor attractions, places of worship and healing and gathering spots where we can come together to enjoy good food and good fun.

I’m an optimist by nature. I disagree when people say there’s not enough investment in St. Louis. If anything, there is so much generosity. We are such a generous region. But we’re not always efficient, and our efforts are often duplicated.

It would be great if we could be more strategic and unified in our objectives, otherwise we will never move the needle for our region to advance.

I believe it’s possible for us to come together around a common goal. Early in my career, I was a lobbyist in St. Louis City and St. Louis County. I had the opportunity to truly get to know our leaders, their interests, and their values, regardless of their party. I learned that while we may disagree about the best path to accomplish our goals, at the end of the day, we all want the same things. We want people to feel safe. We want crime to go down. We want businesses to thrive. We want newcomers to move here and longtime residents to stay.

When we operate from our shared interests, it’s impressive how many stakeholders can move something forward, no matter how big the goal. I acknowledge that there are real challenges on the ground, but I believe we can work together to foster opportunities for all.

It’s also possible to focus on region-wide priorities while also impacting lives on a day-to-day basis. As a representative of construction contractors, our industry provides pathways into life-changing careers that provide generational wealth. While we focus on industry-wide priorities, we also dedicate time and resources to educate young people who might not know of these opportunities.

The footprint Beyond Housing serves will always be near and dear to my heart. My father was an immigrant from Sicily who owned a union cabinetry shop in Pagedale for 35 years. Through his hard work and the community’s support of his business, he was able to provide for our family well and send seven children to Catholic schools.

My hope is focused through my lens as a man of faith, a father, a husband, and an uncle. I hope everyone in the entire St. Louis community will have access to secure housing, a safe living environment, quality education, fulfilling careers, thriving families, and economic growth.

My vision is that we will continue investing in St. Louis as a global brand. We must be smarter and more strategic to impact lives and change our region’s trajectory for the future.

Sincerely,

Anthony Lancia
Vice President of Labor Relations at AGC of Missouri

YouTube Video UExIVW5WZG5OU2wyZGJkc3p5RmEwWHZKNUUzbmo0NUVQdS5EQUE1NTFDRjcwMDg0NEMz

"Dear Lou": Anthony Lancia

Dear Lou, Like many other St. Louisans, after college I moved away for work. After my husband and I had kids, we moved back to be near family and friends and because you are our home. Since doing so, I have been fortunate to able to make a difference in the world right here in the city I have always called home—and I hope I can make a difference that leaves you better than I found you. I have so many hopes and dreams for your success which I know are shared by so many other St. Louisans. We all want to see you succeed. You have so many wonderful people, neighborhoods, and institutions that truly make you one of America’s most hidden gems. Of course, you also have more than your share of challenges. I’m particularly concerned that very few young people move to St. Louis. So many people that move here are from here originally and, like me, decided to move back. I hate to say it, but hardly anyone graduating from college says “I want to move to St. Louis” unless this is where they are from. At the St. Louis chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), we are focused on fostering greater corporate growth in St. Louis and creating a network of opportunity for professionals and businesses. A big part of doing that is attracting and retaining more young talented professionals to St. Louis. If St. Louis is going to grow and succeed, we need to fill our pipeline with the next generation of talent who will contribute to our region’s success. Young people are also naturally more open-minded, more diverse, and think more innovatively. These are qualities our region needs. This is why ACG St. Louis created Emerging Leaders, a young professionals peer group, and given it a major focus going forward. People need a community to support others and be supported, and there is a lack of this within the business community, particularly for young people and especially for outsiders. But this is only one of St. Louis’ many challenges. I have learned that if you ask people what the solution is to creating a better St. Louis, you will get a myriad different responses—everything from reducing crime to improving education, greater equity of opportunity, a more unified structure of government, and dozens of other answers. What I’ve come to realize is that there is no one simple answer to our problems. The real answer is that, if we want to really move forward, we have to come together and address all of our major challenges—but in a more unified, cohesive way than what we have ever done before. It’s amazing that we have roughly 19,000 nonprofits in the St. Louis area. We are such a charitable community and are fortunate to have so many organizations working to address our various problems. With all of these resources, why can’t we coordinate more of these organizations to work together in a collective effort to really make the change our region needs? Better yet, imagine if more of our nonprofits, our businesses, and our civic organizations and leaders began working together to address St. Louis’ challenges as a unified force for change. If we want to attract more younger and innovative professionals, we should go even further to embody that spirit within ourselves, be open to new ideas to create change, and show the world we embrace the future more than the past. We have seen in other metropolitan regions that change is possible. Milwaukee, Detroit, and Pittsburgh have had similar struggles but have managed to make significant strides forward. I believe the biggest reason is because enough people and organizations have come together to create a critical mass. I realize that I am just one voice in more than two and a half million. I wonder if I am the person qualified to say these things. On the other hand, I think that, for the good of our region, more of us need to stop waiting for others to lead us. It’s time for new voices to help lead in creating the change we desire. The future of our city depends on it. With love and optimism, Amy Ruebsam CEO, Midwest Region at Association for Corporate Growth Executive Director, ACG St. Louis

Dear Lou,

Like many other St. Louisans, after college I moved away for work. After my husband and I had kids, we moved back to be near family and friends and because you are our home. Since doing so, I have been fortunate to able to make a difference in the world right here in the city I have always called home—and I hope I can make a difference that leaves you better than I found you.

I have so many hopes and dreams for your success which I know are shared by so many other St. Louisans. We all want to see you succeed. You have so many wonderful people, neighborhoods, and institutions that truly make you one of America’s most hidden gems.

Of course, you also have more than your share of challenges.

I’m particularly concerned that very few young people move to St. Louis. So many people that move here are from here originally and, like me, decided to move back.
I hate to say it, but hardly anyone graduating from college says “I want to move to St. Louis” unless this is where they are from.

At the St. Louis chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), we are focused on fostering greater corporate growth in St. Louis and creating a network of opportunity for professionals and businesses. A big part of doing that is attracting and retaining more young talented professionals to St. Louis.

If St. Louis is going to grow and succeed, we need to fill our pipeline with the next generation of talent who will contribute to our region’s success. Young people are also naturally more open-minded, more diverse, and think more innovatively. These are qualities our region needs.

This is why ACG St. Louis created Emerging Leaders, a young professionals peer group, and given it a major focus going forward. People need a community to support others and be supported, and there is a lack of this within the business community, particularly for young people and especially for outsiders.

But this is only one of St. Louis’ many challenges.

I have learned that if you ask people what the solution is to creating a better St. Louis, you will get a myriad different responses—everything from reducing crime to improving education, greater equity of opportunity, a more unified structure of government, and dozens of other answers.

What I’ve come to realize is that there is no one simple answer to our problems. The real answer is that, if we want to really move forward, we have to come together and address all of our major challenges—but in a more unified, cohesive way than what we have ever done before.

It’s amazing that we have roughly 19,000 nonprofits in the St. Louis area. We are such a charitable community and are fortunate to have so many organizations working to address our various problems. With all of these resources, why can’t we coordinate more of these organizations to work together in a collective effort to really make the change our region needs?

Better yet, imagine if more of our nonprofits, our businesses, and our civic organizations and leaders began working together to address St. Louis’ challenges as a unified force for change.

If we want to attract more younger and innovative professionals, we should go even further to embody that spirit within ourselves, be open to new ideas to create change, and show the world we embrace the future more than the past.

We have seen in other metropolitan regions that change is possible. Milwaukee, Detroit, and Pittsburgh have had similar struggles but have managed to make significant strides forward. I believe the biggest reason is because enough people and organizations have come together to create a critical mass.

I realize that I am just one voice in more than two and a half million. I wonder if I am the person qualified to say these things. On the other hand, I think that, for the good of our region, more of us need to stop waiting for others to lead us.

It’s time for new voices to help lead in creating the change we desire. The future of our city depends on it.

With love and optimism,

Amy Ruebsam
CEO, Midwest Region at Association for Corporate Growth
Executive Director, ACG St. Louis

YouTube Video UExIVW5WZG5OU2wyZGJkc3p5RmEwWHZKNUUzbmo0NUVQdS41Mzk2QTAxMTkzNDk4MDhF

"Dear Lou": Amy Ruebsam

Thank you to everyone who joined the conversation in 2022 around making a stronger St. Louis—once and for all. It was a year of incredible change and growth, but the work doesn't stop here. We can't wait to see what comes next. Donate today: https://www.onceandforall.org/donate/ To all of St. Louis, please like and share this video to help make 2023 even better, and follow us on our socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/once-and-for-all-stl/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OnceAndForAllSTL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dearloustl/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/onceand4allSTL (Featured in chronological order: Peter Blumeyer, Dr. Dwayne Proctor, John F. Risberg, Amy Ruebsam, Chris Krehmeyer, Doug Black, Jason Purnell, Adam Wainwright, Demetrius Grooms, Kendra Holmes, Ray Boshara, Amy Shaw, Arrey Obenson, Pamela Westbrooks Hodge)

Thank you to everyone who joined the conversation in 2022 around making a stronger St. Louis—once and for all. It was a year of incredible change and growth, but the work doesn't stop here. We can't wait to see what comes next.

Donate today: https://www.onceandforall.org/donate/

To all of St. Louis, please like and share this video to help make 2023 even better, and follow us on our socials:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/once-and-for-all-stl/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OnceAndForAllSTL
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dearloustl/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/onceand4allSTL

(Featured in chronological order: Peter Blumeyer, Dr. Dwayne Proctor, John F. Risberg, Amy Ruebsam, Chris Krehmeyer, Doug Black, Jason Purnell, Adam Wainwright, Demetrius Grooms, Kendra Holmes, Ray Boshara, Amy Shaw, Arrey Obenson, Pamela Westbrooks Hodge)

YouTube Video UExIVW5WZG5OU2wyZGJkc3p5RmEwWHZKNUUzbmo0NUVQdS4zMDg5MkQ5MEVDMEM1NTg2

Once and for All: 2022 Year In Review | A St Louis Movement

Dear Lou, You have been my second home for the last seventeen years. What a blessing it has been to experience all that we have together. From winning championships to having my kids grow up here, I couldn't have asked for a better situation professionally and personally. There are so many things I love about St Louis: the baseball, the barbecue, and most of all—the people. You have embraced us since day one and I will forever hold a dear place in my heart for the great city and people of St Louis. If I could offer you one piece of advice, it would be to stay true to who you are. You are a city that loves deeply and gives with a generous heart. I have seen our charity Big League Impact grow to a level that I never dreamed was possible, and it was all because of your loyal support. Without you, we would have never been able to reach as many people who were living without the basic essential needs. Things we take for granted like food, clean water, shelter, and medicine are things not everyone is afforded so easily. No matter what our initiative, you have jumped behind us full steam to make sure that those in need could be found and helped. Keep being you, St Louis—the world is a better place because you're here. The last thing I want to say is plain and simple: I love you, St Louis. Thank you for helping shape me and my family all these years. Adam Wainwright Pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals

Dear Lou,

You have been my second home for the last seventeen years. What a blessing it has been to experience all that we have together. From winning championships to having my kids grow up here, I couldn't have asked for a better situation professionally and personally.

There are so many things I love about St Louis: the baseball, the barbecue, and most of all—the people. You have embraced us since day one and I will forever hold a dear place in my heart for the great city and people of St Louis.

If I could offer you one piece of advice, it would be to stay true to who you are.

You are a city that loves deeply and gives with a generous heart. I have seen our charity Big League Impact grow to a level that I never dreamed was possible, and it was all because of your loyal support. Without you, we would have never been able to reach as many people who were living without the basic essential needs. Things we take for granted like food, clean water, shelter, and medicine are things not everyone is afforded so easily. No matter what our initiative, you have jumped behind us full steam to make sure that those in need could be found and helped.

Keep being you, St Louis—the world is a better place because you're here.

The last thing I want to say is plain and simple: I love you, St Louis. Thank you for helping shape me and my family all these years.

Adam Wainwright
Pitcher, St. Louis Cardinals

YouTube Video UExIVW5WZG5OU2wyZGJkc3p5RmEwWHZKNUUzbmo0NUVQdS45ODRDNTg0QjA4NkFBNkQy

"Dear Lou": Adam Wainwright

Watch our explainer video to learn why a comprehensive, holistic model is essential for creating real change.

Who We Are

BEYOND HOUSING is a nationally recognized community development organization that works to strengthen families and transform under-resourced communities to create a stronger, more equitable, and prosperous St. Louis region for all. Our comprehensive model is built on the understanding that strengthening families and transforming under-resourced communities isn’t simple—it’s complex and requires a comprehensive, multi-pronged effort.

Over the years, we have created the infrastructure of staff, partners, programs, and relationships that is essential for fulfilling our comprehensive model in order to create a stronger St. Louis—once and for all.

Our work brings civic leaders, targeted nonprofits, corporate partners, and residents together to create meaningful and lasting change and is focused within the 24:1 Community—a community comprised of multiple municipalities within the Normandy schools footprint in North St. Louis County.

In just over 10 years, Beyond Housing and its partners have raised and invested more than $150 million into the 24:1 Community.

$150,000,000+
raised and invested in the 24:1 Community since 2010
$70,000,000+
invested in construction projects for housing and economic development
$11,000,000
provided in home repair grants
$700,000+
raised and invested in rent and utility assistance, food, and essential supplies distribution, COVID-19 testing, and small business assistance since beginning of COVID-19 pandemic

A Model for Creating Meaningful
and Lasting Change

OUR COMPREHENSIVE MODEL for strengthening families and transforming under-resourced communities is based on our own experiences in community development over several decades, as well as learnings and data from other community development organizations and thought leaders across the country.

This model is wholly unique in the field of community development and combines key insights on the realities of under-resourced communities and the efforts and resources that are needed for creating lasting change.

Its effectiveness has been proven by the results achieved over the last 10 years, as well as by the lack of meaningful results produced by other transformation efforts.

Comprehensive

Transforming under-resourced communities isn’t simple—it’s complex. Because of this complexity, real change cannot be achieved by addressing a single area such as housing or education on its own—it requires a comprehensive, multipronged effort. This is why so many single-focused efforts fail to produce any meaningful results.

Two recent examples of this are Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million effort to improve schools in Newark, New Jersey and the Gates Foundation’s seven-year, nearly $1 billion initiative to improve education in several low-income communities. Despite generous funding and the best of intentions, both of these efforts failed to produce any meaningful results. We believe one of the primary reasons for this is a lack of understanding of how poverty impacts students and families—that what happens outside the classroom is even more of a factor as what happens within it.

Communities are ecosystems that require many things, each dependent on the other, to become successful places where people want to live.

 

Because of the breadth of challenges in under-resourced communities and their interdependent nature, our model is comprehensive and addresses entire communities by strengthening families, transforming the physical environment, and creating change at the systems level.

Holistic

Families and communities each have many needs that are interrelated and must be addressed as part of a greater whole.

Serving Families Holistically

People’s problems don’t exist in silos—they are interrelated. In order to help a parent earn a living wage we may also have to help them with transportation, childcare, or unmet health needs. Because of this, the following key impact areas necessary for thriving families are addressed in an integrated, holistic manner.

  • Housing
  • Health
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Financial Advising
  • Childcare
  • Transportation

Serving Communities Holistically

Communities are ecosystems that require many things, each dependent on the other, in order to thrive. They have many needs—from an adequate stock of affordable housing to quality schools, sound infrastructure, convenient access to goods and services, effective local government, and more—in order to become successful places where people want to live.

  • Transforming the Physical Environment
    • Removing unsafe, dilapidated homes
    • Constructing new and rehabbing existing homes
    • Economic development to bring in new businesses, create jobs, and provide access to essential goods and services from food to financial and health services
    • Improving municipal infrastructure from roads to sewers; city planning and beautification through parks, pedestrian walkways, and greenspaces
  • Creating Change at the Systems Level
    • Community Governance & Capacity Building: Partnering with municipal leaders and local government to create better financial efficiencies and quality of services to residents, while also coordinating municipal mergers, consolidation of courts, police departments, and other essential services
    • Advocacy: Advocating for the needs of the community with local and state government

Deep, Trusted Relationships

Change moves at the speed of trust. Creating real change requires an understanding of the community along with building deep, trusted relationships with residents, government officials, the business community, and other community stakeholders.

Building these relationships takes time, but they are critical for building trust which is essential given the amount of mistrust that exists from decades of unfulfilled promises, systemic racism, and broken systems.

Ask, Align, Act

We continually initiate conversations with residents and the greater community to identify priorities. Our model of Ask, Align, Act ensures that our actions are guided by the voice of the community. We ask for the community’s input to identify priorities, and then work to align resources and act toward fulfilling a common vision.

Built for Complex Challenges

Having a comprehensive model in itself is not enough. Creating real change also requires significant resources as well as a system to deliver those resources in an integrated, holistic manner.

Infrastructure of Staff, Programs, Partners, and Resources

Delivering a truly comprehensive model requires more resources than any one organization can deliver on its own. This is why we have invested so heavily over the years to create an infrastructure of staff, programs, and nonprofit partners with complementary skills and expertise.

Beyond Housing Staff and Programs

  • Housing Resource Coordinators (HRCs)
    HRCs run the Services Enriched Rental Housing program which provides affordable rental housing and supportive services including financial advising, homeownership, and referrals for employment, continued education, childcare, and more. The HRCs also manage Beyond Housing’s two senior living facilities which provide affordable housing and services for area seniors.
  • Family Engagement Liaisons (FELs)
    The FELs are part of our ongoing partnership with the Normandy school district. FELs work directly inside schools to serve as a liaison between home and school and assist students and families by removing barriers that can prevent children from being successful in school.
  • Community Health Workers (CHWs)
    The CHWs run the Community Health Program which helps individuals and their families manage chronic health conditions with a focus on type 2 diabetes and childhood asthma. These unmet health needs often create an additional barrier preventing families from making a living wage and becoming self-sufficient.
HRCs, FELs, CHWs, and other staff members work together to address the needs of each family in coordinated case management to ensure that needs are served holistically.
  • Economic Development
    Beyond Housing facilitates and manages large-scale commercial development projects to bring in new businesses, create jobs, provide better access to goods and services, and stimulate the local economy. The 24:1 Small Business Network supports entrepreneurs and small businesses in the 24:1 Community by connecting them to information, resources, and business networking events.
  • Municipality
    Staff work in partnership with local government officials to support municipalities through capacity building to improve services and efficiency of budgets to facilitating infrastructure upgrades from sewer systems to new parks, sidewalks, and more.
  • Youth Development
    The Pagedale Family Support Center provides youth development through after-school, summer, and athletic programs, as well as supportive services for adults including job training and referrals, a computer lab, monthly food pantry, and other services. The Viking Advantage program provides an Individual Development Account (IDA) matched savings program to help students save for college or vocational training, plus college counseling for local high-school students.

Partner Organizations and Additional Services

Staff work directly with a network of nonprofit organizations that provide complementary and mutually reinforcing services as well as corporate partners and anchor institutions including the Normandy Schools Collaborative, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Washington University.

Systems that Support the Integrated Delivery of Services and Resources

Equally as important, all of this must be coordinated with the help of systems that allow everyone to connect in order to deliver services in an integrated, holistic manner.

As an example, HRCs, FELs, CHWs, and other staff members work as a team with each family to address and serve needs holistically in coordinated case management. Resources are then aligned from our network of nonprofit partners.

Making Every Dollar More Effective

The comprehensive, holistic nature of this model combined with the infrastructure of staff, programs, partners, and services provides collective impact—an impact that is far greater together than each individual effort on its own.

This also makes each dollar invested exponentially more effective. Investments toward education or health, for example, achieve greater results because of the mutually reinforcing work being done in other interrelated areas which creates lasting change for generations to come.

Additionally, our new logic model, created in partnership with Washington University, maps the logical relationships between resources invested and activities within our comprehensive model. This enables us to measure the benefits or changes that result from these investments in order to track and optimize our efforts to achieve greater results moving forward.

Resources for Achieving Scale

Our model has delivered impressive results over the last 10 years, and we expect to achieve even greater results in the years ahead.

Transforming under-resourced communities doesn’t happen overnight, but things can always change if enough people want them to.

We believe that a better St. Louis is within our reach. The St. Louis area has the heart, talent, and resources to reinvent ourselves for the better. By pooling more resources and expertise from a wider coalition of partners, we can address our underlying issues to make this home of ours what we want it to be—once and for all.

A Track Record of Proven Results (2010-2020)

The following is a highlight of results and achievements over the last decade. Though we believe these results are impressive, we have continually refined our model and approach throughout the years and are confident this model will produce even greater results in the years ahead.

  • $150,000,000+
    raised and invested in the 24:1 Community since 2010

  • $70,000,000+
    invested in construction projects for housing and economic development

Housing and Infrastructure

  • $48,000,000+
    invested in affordable housing construction

  • $11,000,000
    provided in owner-occupied home repair grants
  • $15,500,000
    increase in property values 
  • $35,000,000
    invested in affordable housing construction

  • 200+
    dilapidated homes demoed

  • 200
    new affordable homes constructed

  • 500
    affordable rental homes currently occupied

  • $6,000,000+
    invested in new streets, improved infrastructure, and beautification in 2019 alone

Commercial/Economic Development

  • SAVE A LOT GROCERY STORE, TWO SENIOR HOUSING CENTERS, MIDWEST BANK CENTRE, 24:1 CINEMA, AFFINIA HEALTHCARE CLINIC, BJC BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CLINIC, ANTI-PAYDAY LOAN CENTER, AND CREDIT UNION

  • $6,500,000
    second phase of our successful commercial and economic development in Pagedale with a new $6.5 million, 20,000-square-foot building opened in July of 2021, which is home to entrepreneur and minority-owned businesses

  • $21,100,000
    in commercial development

Education

  • 80%
    of students and families engaged with Family Engagement Liaisons in 2019 remained in their homes

  • 65%
    of student attendance maintained or improved in 2019

  • 54% to 81%
    growth in high school graduation rates from 2014 through 2017

  • 97%
    improvement in reading and math for children attending Pagedale Family Support Center

  • 93%
    of high school seniors in Viking Advantage college savings program enrolled in college

  •  7.1% to 62.5%
    increase in overall test performance from 2014 through 2017

  • 2013-2017
    period during which we assisted the Normandy school district in regaining accreditation

  • $970,252
    total college savings used toward post-secondary education since inception of the College Savings program

  • 2019
    Horace Mann Friend of Education Award from Missouri National Education Association

  • 2019
    Family Engagement Liaisons Program named a Merit Finalist in Mutual of America Community Partnership Awards

The comprehensive, holistic nature of this model combined with the infrastructure of staff, programs, partners, and services provides collective impact—an impact that is far greater than each individual effort on its own.

Personal Finance/Wealth Creation

  • $14,500,000
    in wealth creation (individual savings accounts, college savings, and down payment assistance for new homeowners)

  • 51%
    reduction in number of families being evicted or moving due to financial problems since inception of Housing Resource Coordinators (HRCs)

  • 65%
    of people served reporting increase in family income in 2019

  • 76%
    improved their self-sufficiency in 2019

  • 19
    moveouts in 2018 due to families becoming first-time homeowners

  • 2%
    annual increase in assessed property values

Health

  • Community Health Workers (CHWs)
    established in 2019 to help meet unmet health needs with a focus on chronic conditions of type 2 diabetes and childhood asthma

  • Improved access
    to healthcare     with the opening of Affinia Healthcare and BJC Behavioral Health clinics in 2019

  • 92%
    of participants in Community Health Program completed all primary and preventative care appointments

  • 82%
    of participants in Community Health Program did not visit an emergency room for primary care

  • 1st
    New Save a Lot grocery store—the first grocery store in Pagedale in 40 years—opened in 2010 providing access to fresh, healthy food in what was previously a food desert

  • 2016
    winner of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health prize

Government

  • 17
    local governments collaborating and saving over $1 million on public services

  • 13
    court systems consolidated into two main court hubs to create savings and improved services

  • 13
    police departments consolidated into two police forces

  • 1st
    municipal merger in the history of St. Louis County, merging Vinita Park into Vinita Terrace; a second merger is underway with the Village of Glen Echo Park and the City of Normandy

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