2026 Resident Leadership Awardee, Mimi Taylor-Hendrix!
Congratulations to Mrs. Mimi Taylor-Hendrix, Board Chair of Sustainable Housing & Equitable Development (SHED), and recipient of our 2026 Resident Leadership Award!
The Resident Leadership Award recognizes a person who:
Has shown incredible volunteerism and involvement in their community and/or community initiatives.
Goes above and beyond typical resident action to sit on boards, head committees, and/or encourage the engagement of other residents.
Works to challenge the status quo in the St. Louis region.
“You just have to get involved. If you're waiting to do a big thing…you could be waiting forever”
Mimi Taylor-Hendrix has spent more than three decades in the third ward of University City of St. Louis being involved in her community. Whether it be volunteering as PTO President at her children’s schools, serving on the Social Justice Committee at Christ the King Catholic Church, or being on the board of Sustainable Housing and Equitable Development (SHED), Mimi finds ways to provide for her community. “I’ve always been involved,” says Mimi as she reflected on her history of volunteering in St. Louis. Throughout all her roles, it was important for her to figure out what was wrong and then move forward to make a change. Mimi emphasized how “solution-oriented” she is and how much she values finding creative ways around hurdles to support the residents in her neighborhood.
When SHED sought new board members in 2019, Mimi accepted the invitation and started work on the Volunteer Home Maintenance Program. Initially, Mimi and other volunteers were going out into the community to help seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities with exterior home repairs. After a few years, SHED was ready to expand and do more for the community. They bought vacant lots and built a new, 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house. This beautiful home demonstrated how commitment to the neighborhood and people means revitalization and growth.
“My goal is to empower people”
Mimi shared that she didn’t want anything to fall through the cracks. She began managing all the meeting minutes that keep a volunteer organization running, built relationships with partner organizations, and conducted outreach to hear from the community about what they needed. One project that Mimi was incredibly proud of was the “Do You Know” flyers that were disseminated when neighbors were experiencing power outages on the street lamps. She went into the neighborhood herself and learned each street lamp had a unique marker to identify it. On these flyers, she encouraged people to identify any lamps that were out, share the unique marker, and then someone would go out and fix it. In order to reach seniors and people without internet access, she was going door to door, sharing at town halls, and encouraging neighbors to speak to their neighbors. These efforts represent how Mimi goes above and beyond to support her community and to lead with love and grace.