Food Access in St. Louis: We Need Better Policies

By Melissa Vatterott, Chair, St. Louis Food Policy Coalition (STLFPC)

Over one-quarter of St. Louis City residents are food insecure: they face uncertain access to nutritious food. An even higher percentage face low food access, which means they lack grocery store options that are close to home or accessible given the transportation available to them.

Food insecurity and low food access in St. Louis stem from institutional problems related to government policies, race, economics, and transportation infrastructure that prevent residents from accessing nutritious foods. Local NGOs are working to address these problems, but we need our City government’s support.

We must prioritize better food policy in the St. Louis region, especially when it comes to food access for our most vulnerable residents. Living wages are crucial for nutritious food access, and a higher minimum wage in the City of St. Louis would empower more households to access and afford healthier foods. Improving public transit routes, adding more routes, and increasing service frequency would also increase city residents’ access to nutritious food.

Ultimately, though, we need policy that incentivizes bringing grocery stores back into disinvested communities. Without it, we cannot effectively fight obesity, diabetes, malnutrition, and other diet-related illnesses in our city. Given the health disparities between black and white city residents, this is especially critical from an equity standpoint.

The St. Louis MetroMarket, a St. Louis Food Policy Coalition (STLFPC) member organization, bypasses the barriers created by limited transportation and grocery store access with their converted Metrobus market, which brings fresh food directly to the JeffVanderLou neighborhood. They and other food access organizations recognize, though, that approaches like the MetroMarket are just temporary fixes, not long-term solutions. Communities need access to permanent healthy food outlets.

We recommend incentivizing the establishment of new grocery stores that provide fresh nutritious foods in food desert neighborhoods—perhaps through a partnership between the Mayor’s Office and IFF, which works with grocery stores to locate in neighborhoods like these, or by involving the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability in this environmental and social justice-focused concern.

There is another dimension to the issue of food access in St. Louis. While we work to invest more resources and infrastructure into underserved neighborhoods, the City must also empower residents to use vacant lots to feed themselves and to cultivate economic opportunities through food and farming enterprises.

The number of teen employment opportunities focused on food production is growing. Organizations like the St. Louis Green Teen Alliance, STL Youth Jobs, and the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE) have capacity to employ more youth with increased funding. With the City’s financial and political support, these groups could foster a generation of St. Louis youth working in local food production and entrepreneurship.

We can use vacant lots as a tool to both employ youth seeking green jobs and meet regional demand for local sustainable food. The results of our 2016 urban agriculture survey—taken by 850 residents—indicated broad support for food growing activities. In fact, 97 percent of respondents supported using vacant lots in their neighborhood for urban agriculture and 77 percent of respondents would like the City to make it easier to acquire land for food production. If residents were incentivized to grow food on vacant lots, they could increase food access for themselves, their neighborhoods, and local organizations working on emergency food access. The Mayor’s Office should support the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) in developing a new process that makes it easier for residents to buy land for food production, with priority given to residents who live near the lot they want to purchase so that any food production movement is community-driven.

We also recommend that the Mayor’s Office appoint a cabinet member specifically tasked with advancing food system issues in St. Louis. STLFPC conducts outreach and community education on food system issues and has identified priorities for our city through engagement with stakeholders, aldermen, and City departments. STLFPC and other stakeholders should meet regularly with the City to improve food access policies.

At STLFPC, our goal is to create a thriving local, sustainable, and equitable food system for St. Louis. With the right policies and priorities in place, we’re confident we can get there.

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Melissa Vatterott is the Food and Farm Coordinator at Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE). Since writing MCE’s St. Louis Regional Food Study published in 2014, Melissa has worked to support environmentally responsible farming practices and healthy local food systems across the state, which includes directing the St. Louis Food Policy Coalition (STLFPC). STLFPC’s mission is to promote a thriving local food system that supports the health, community, environment, and economy of the Greater St. Louis area. Melissa received her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law with an emphasis in natural resource law and her B.S. in Environmental Science with an Agricultural Economics minor from the University of Missouri.

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Articles in “From the Field” represent the opinions of the author only and do not represent the views of the Community Builders Network of Metro St. Louis or the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Trees—Yes, Trees—Are Part Of Community Building

By Chris Krehmeyer, President and CEO of Beyond Housing

This column was originally published on Chris’s blog.

When most folks think about community building, they think about housing, health, education, economic development, and jobs. Rarely do you hear anyone speak about trees. As a matter of fact, a number of the mayors in our 24:1 Initiative have long viewed trees as liabilities rather than assets. Those trees had the nerve to get sick, die, and then fall, and usually in an inconvenient place!

I will have to admit I never gave trees much thought as they related to helping make our community better. Rather than seeing the trees, I just saw the homes that needed to be demolished or rehabbed and the streets that needed repair. I was drawn to the abandoned commercial buildings that needed to be revitalized. Several years ago, however, we were approached by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and given a crash course about the value of trees in our community. MDC states that “the trees of a community are visible and valuable assets, and contribute greatly to the appearance and character of any town. They are a part of the public infrastructure and are just as important as the streets, sewers, and utilities. Often, trees do not receive the attention or care they deserve. Tree planting alone is commendable, but may have little long-term value without proper maintenance.”

Just as I am the evangelist for our work at Beyond Housing, I found my peer in the world of trees—Mark Grueber. Mark has opened our eyes to the great beauty and long-term benefits of healthy trees in our community. He made me realize that the most attractive and vibrant parts of our region feature trees as an integral part of their appeal. MDC has long wanted to create an urban forestry program in St. Louis, and once we became more educated on the issue, we wanted in as well! Fortunately, we proved to be good students and jumped into action, finding the right people and environment to support our work. With the encouragement of MDC, we applied for and received a five-year, $500,000 grant to hire a community forester for the 24:1 footprint in mid-2016.

“There’s great benefit in a healthy forest canopy in urban areas. Trees, parks and other green spaces increase property values, protect from soil erosion, and protect homes and streets from the harsh effects of the sun,” said Doug Seely, Community Forester with Beyond Housing. “Our initiatives in community forestry have helped to create vibrant green spaces for the 24:1 Community and show how important the forestry canopy is when building a community that can sustain generations of families.” Doug has become the most popular Beyond Housing staff person in the 24:1 Community and it kind of bothers me! His passion for the beauty and purpose of trees in our community is contagious.

I am proud to note that the Missouri Community Forestry Council and MDC have recognized Beyond Housing with the Missouri Arbor Award of Excellence for their work in community forestry. The award recognizes projects that demonstrate a sustained effort to care for the trees of Missouri. “Beyond Housing has achieved more success (in regards to community forestry) than some cities do,” said Daniel Moncheski, Community Forester with the Missouri Department of Conservation. “I work with cities that range in population from 200 to 80,000 people. The buy-in for trees by the mayors in the 24:1 rivals the largest cities I work with. I pinch myself when I help out here to make sure this is real.” Working with 12 municipalities, we have completed tree inventories, begun a tree trimming process, and will soon embark upon tree planting work. The leaders of our communities have grown enthusiastic about caring for their trees and, like me, see their great long-term value.

The next time you drive through our community or yours, stop for a moment and look at the trees—they matter.

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Chris Krehmeyer is the President and CEO of Beyond Housing, a NeighborWorks America organization in St. Louis. He has served in that capacity since 1993. Chris has sat or currently sits on a variety of boards, including Midwest Bank Centre and Midwest Bank Centre Holding Company, the United Way of Greater St. Louis Asset Building, both Washington University and the University of Missouri’s Not-For-Profit programs, and the National NeighborWorks Association Board. Chris has been an adjunct faculty member at Washington University teaching a class in social entrepreneurship. He is married with three children and has an undergraduate degree in Urban Studies from Washington University.

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Articles in “From the Field” represent the opinions of the author only and do not represent the views of the Community Builders Network of Metro St. Louis or the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Community Development at Work: University Square CDC

University Square CDC Taps Potential in North St. Louis County

University Square Community Development Corporation (USCDC) may be most recently well-known for the Natural Bridge Great Streets project, an initiative that developed multi-use pedestrian paths along Natural Bridge Road to promote safety, accessibility, and opportunity. Phase One, completed in the spring of 2016, created this stretch of pedestrian paths beginning on Hanley and traveling east to Lucas and Hunt. Final outcomes included a raised median, additional storefront development, enhanced landscaping, a four- to two-lane road conversion, a traffic circle, and far more pedestrian activity. The project was made possible through a collaboration between USCDC, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), Great Rivers Greenway, East-West Gateway Council of Governments, Bi-State Development, North County Incorporated, St. Louis County, St. Louis City, and the City of Normandy.

Enrique Flores, USCDC Real Estate Development Director

Enrique Flores, USCDC’s Real Estate Development Director, emphasizes that reviving Natural Bridge Road—beginning with the Hanley to Lucas and Hunt stretch—is an important initiative that’s already generated community-wide ripple effects. Nearby are an elementary school and library, and the new multi-use pedestrian paths have helped to enhance safety for passersby of all ages. The higher frequency of walkers and bikers has in turn drawn more businesses to the newly renovated area. Moreover, since the Great Streets project took place around the same time as renovations at the St. Louis Public Library, the heightened foot traffic brought by the pedestrian lanes prompted the library to extend their hours and ensure that the paths around the building were well-lit into the evening.

“In the end, the project was very well received,” Flores remarked. “It improved pedestrian access and highlighted investment.”

Phase Two of the Natural Bridge Great Streets project will continue from Hanley to Interstate 170. “The first issues to tackle are to clean up the street, address the runoff issue, clean up the infrastructure, and facilitate pedestrians up and down the street,” Flores said. USCDC is currently working with MoDOT to determine funding for engineering. This project area could help draw more business and foot traffic to strip malls, drive-up services, and residential areas nearby. Flores referred to this potential as a “wave effect”: with each project completed at the center, whether it’s development or collaboration between organizations and communities, more opportunities open up.

USCDC is currently working with property owners to create transit-oriented development (TOD) opportunities at the North Hanley MetroLink station. Alongside adjoining properties, the North Hanley MetroLink station constitutes a 50-acre project area with 30 acres immediately available for development. Enrique notes that this is an ideal location for redevelopment: it’s one of busiest MetroLink stations, and is close to Lambert International Airport, the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), and North Park, the fastest growing industrial park in the St. Louis area. USCDC’s service area encompasses stable communities that could benefit from expanded development of hospitality, retail, dining, and conference spaces.

When done well, community development provides a voice for those that are directly impacted by development changes in an area, and USCDC has made it a priority to incorporate the direct input of community members. To engage residents and amplify community voices, the CDC uses community forums, focus groups, and public panel discussions featuring community stakeholders. Event attendees typically include residents, business and property owners, political figures, and UMSL faculty, staff, and students.

USCDC has also made inter-organizational collaboration a priority by leveraging relationships with their partners, who in some cases have conducted past community forums in an area of USCDC’s interest. Instead of asking the same group of people to meet several different times to report the same information to various organizations, USCDC consults with their partners and incorporates information they have already gathered into their work and planning. For example, in the area affected by USCDC’s North Hanley MetroLink station development project, resident UMSL staff and faculty can informally address their neighbors to gauge a sense of what a community response to USCDC’s initiative might look like.

USCDC continues to seek new methods for conducting community outreach. One new initiative, for instance, involves a group of UMSL alumni hosting coffee gatherings at their homes to update their neighbors and fellow alumni on USCDC’s plans and projects. Ideally, these gatherings will address the need for communication between the university and the community, bring in different perspectives, and provide those gathered with an opportunity to voice opinions and concerns. The chancellor of UMSL, who sits on USCDC’s Board, also offers a venue for connection and exposure by hosting quarterly community meetings on Saturday mornings.

As USCDC works to grow its development arm, their goal is to continue to provide a critical link between the community and developers. This offers potential development partners insight into the types of business and community initiatives they should consider bringing into the area—such as coffee shops, drugstores, grocery establishments, and other businesses.

In the meantime, USCDC is ready to spread the word about the North Hanley MetroLink station initiative and Phase Two of the Natural Bridge Great Streets project. Their objective is to gain traction, generate buzz in the community, stimulate resident involvement through forums and panels, and produce an outcome that’s suitable for everyone.

The map below outlines the Natural Bridge Great Streets Project. Click the image to access a full-scale PDF copy.

Written by Elisabeth Coats, CBN Practicum Student

Public-Private Partnerships Make Good on Trump’s Housing Promises

By Vincent R. Bennett, President of McCormack Baron Salazar

This column was originally published by The Hill.

During his first address to Congress, President Donald Trump declared that “our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety, and opportunity.” That pledge is more achievable now than ever, if the administration plucks some low hanging policy fruit.

In such too-often-written-off cities as Memphis, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh, a pilot public/private neighborhood-turnaround program now called the Choice Neighborhood Initiative has produced major community improvements: a 40 percent increase in employment of public housing residents and 30 percent decrease in crime in Memphis; a 53 percent employment rate of the public housing residents in our mixed-income communities in New Orleans; and 60 percent of the middle and high school youth from Pittsburgh neighborhoods participating in enrichment programs that keep them on-track for college and employment.

The Initiative transforms neighborhoods. It replaces obsolete, deteriorating publicly owned housing that isolates poor residents with modern privately owned and managed mixed-income housing supported by coordinated private, philanthropic, and local neighborhood investments. It is designed to engage private developers and America’s top private-sector financial institutions to create a better model for housing, one with private market efficiencies and public accountability. According to my firm’s calculations, its projects have secured a 3:1 ratio of local and private investment for every HUD dollar spent.

To be selected for the program, communities must bring together local leaders, residents, housing authorities, educators, police, business owners, and nonprofit organizations to improve education and job training, economic development, commercial development, and job creation. These tie-ins encourage coordination with other federal investments, such as: the Justice Department’s Byrne Grants that address crime, safety and reentry and Department of Education’s Promise Neighborhoods that encourage school choice and school infrastructure, Treasury’s New Markets Tax Credits that support economic development and job creation, and Transportation and EPA programs for rehabilitating deteriorating infrastructure and public services.

The Initiative has already proven to be among the most successful uses of the IRS’ federal low income housing tax credits yet tested.

Since 1986, these credits have undergirded the financing of nearly three million apartments. In a typical year, credit-enabled projects create nearly 96,000 jobs, $3.5 billion in federal, state and local taxes paid, and $9.1 billion in wages and business income. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, in his confirmation hearings, called housing credits an “excellent example” of incentives that bring the private sector into low-income housing.

In early March, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and committee member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) reintroduced legislation with strong bipartisan support to increase the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit by 50 percent and make additional improvements to the program.

This suite of successful strategies has the capacity to catalyze a vast transformation to our nation’s biggest urban trouble spots.

The need is great. More than one in four American households spend 50 percent or more of their income on rent. There is a national shortage of 7.4 million homes affordable to the lowest-income families. Deferred maintenance on 100 percent publicly owned housing was estimated by HUD at $26 billion in 2010 and was growing by $3.4 billion each year. For every three units added to the overall rental stock between 1995 and 2005, two units were permanently removed from the inventory. Many of the new units targeted the higher end of the market and were unaffordable to those with more modest incomes. The housing boom-and-bust of the years that followed did little to improve the situation.

Today, a look through project submissions to HUD shows that public-private public housing transformation projects in 48 cities await federal support. In limbo is $5.7 billion in housing infrastructure investment, with most funding coming from private sources. Based on estimates by the National Association of Homebuilders, these projects would produce 26,000 tax-paying good wage construction jobs and 23,000 privately maintained, modern, healthy, low-impact apartments and homes for families, seniors and veterans. Equally important, formerly homeless veterans and others experiencing homelessness would be among those housed.

But to get these kinds of results, the Choice Neighborhood concept must go to scale. Past funding limited investment to $30 million per neighborhood. The number of awards allowed was kept at an average of three per year. Even when matched 3-to-1 by local and private investment, $30 million per award is not sufficient to achieve the intended impacts in places like Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Louisville.

With President Trump intensifying focus and demanding action on our nation’s crumbling infrastructure and distressed urban neighborhoods, expanding the public-private Choice Neighborhood model—supported by efforts such as the Cantwell-Hatch Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2017— would be a strong, cost-effective step toward fulfilling the president’s promise to urban America.

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As President of McCormack Baron Salazar, Vincent Bennett is responsible for the overall performance of the development company, overseeing all aspects of operations and managing a talented multi-disciplinary team of design, construction, legal, finance, and project management staff across the country. He has particular expertise in the development of public housing transformations (though Choice Neighborhoods, HOPE VI and other public housing funding) and large-scale neighborhood master redevelopment efforts.

Mr. Bennett’s experience includes structuring and negotiating mixed-finance/mixed-income transactions that include Low- Income Housing Tax Credit equity, Community Development Block Grants, HOME, HOPE VI/Choice Neighborhoods, PHA Capital, foundation, corporate donations, grants, and conventional debt. He facilitates communication with local community organizations and elected officials, neighborhood residents, lenders, foundations, and state, local and federal agencies. Mr. Bennett has been a champion of the company’s sustainability efforts and has overseen three LEED-ND certifications and eight Enterprise Green Communities certifications.

Prior to joining the firm in 1993, Mr. Bennett managed commercial and economic development activities for a community development corporation in the City of Pittsburgh. He is a graduate of the University of California in Santa Cruz with degrees in Economics and Psychology, and received his master’s degree in Management and Public Policy with concentrations in Financial Management and Urban Development and Planning at Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Bennett serves on the Board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri.

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Articles in “From the Field” represent the opinions of the author only and do not represent the views of the Community Builders Network of Metro St. Louis or the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

A Comprehensive Plan for the City of St. Louis: 70 Years is Too Long to Wait

By Robert Lewis, FAICP, CEcD, Principal at Development Strategies

Public safety was a foremost topic of our St. Louis mayoral and aldermanic candidates in this spring’s elections. But there were also undercurrents about development and developer incentives in the Central Corridor versus the lack thereof in the rest of the city. How are decisions on development and the distribution of incentives determined in St. Louis?

While I have my own opinions on such questions, more important to me is the lack of a comprehensive vision of how we—the residents, workers, businesses, and institutions of St. Louis—want our city to function and look. Almost all of us have no idea how decisions on incentives, zoning, parks, traffic flow, streetscapes, public health, and so on are made by the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.

As a career-long urban planner—two years in the public sector and 39 (so far) as a consultant—I am astonished that we do not have a functioning comprehensive plan to guide such decisions at the political and citizen commission levels. Wouldn’t it be better if there was a common vision, expressed in text, graphs, and pictures, of how we want our city and neighborhoods to evolve? Wouldn’t decision-making be easier if the politics and horse-trading could be eliminated? Development decisions and priorities could be determined by comparing ideas to the common vision.

Technically, St. Louis does have a comprehensive plan on the books. It was adopted in 1947 at virtually the height of the city’s population and economic density. Since then, we’ve had astounding challenges in urban decline, but also great successes with pockets of revitalization. The population is less than half what it was, the tax base has dramatically declined, and we now have many square miles of redevelopment opportunities. We have space and infrastructure to support roughly double our current population and employment. Yet we have not adopted an up-to-date plan.

We tried in the early 1970s. It’s a beautiful plan that was well-conceived and involved a lot of citizen engagement, but the Aldermen couldn’t agree. Racism, elitism, and the paranoia of urban decline got in the way.

We’re a lot more grown-up now. Aren’t we? We should act that way.

Downtown St. Louis got its act together in the late 1990s with the Downtown Now! plan, which triggered substantial, coordinated changes. Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation has adopted and adapted plan after plan to lead the Central West End and much of Midtown from the ravages of urban decay in the 1960s to a national model of urban functionality. Forest Park Forever prepared and is updating a master plan for this world-renowned park.

It can be done! Sure, Downtown and the Central West End had well-funded leaders (banks and a world-class university, for example), and so did Forest Park, thanks to its world-class institutions. All those strong leaders worked with and continue to work with city officials and state-enabled planning and development laws to re-shape crucial parts of the city.

The 2013 Sustainability Plan for the city is a remarkable achievement that encompasses many comprehensive planning and visionary concepts. It lacked some citizen engagement, but all City government departments helped shape it into a comprehensive plan by another name. We don’t call it that, and we don’t use it that way. And the Board of Aldermen has never formally adopted it as City policy (although the City Planning Commission did, to its credit).

There are inklings that planning could once again be held in higher regard in St. Louis. The Board of Aldermen is working closely with St. Louis Development Corporation to perfect better policies and quantitative analysis of development proposals to remove political motivations from decisions and ensure that not too much is given away in parts of the city that don’t need it. Several neighborhood plans exist, most created by the neighborhoods themselves. There are Great Streets plans in the city, community development plans, parks plans, economic development strategies, and public health plans. And the recent mayoral and aldermanic elections (including those of 2015) show signs that more progressive political leadership is emerging.

In short, St. Louis has a disaggregated appreciation of the value of planning for the common good. What we need now is to pull this city together into a one-to-two-year engagement process, with ample technical support and formalized facilitation, to civilly discuss our likes and dislikes, our trusts and mistrusts, and our wide range of visions and desires. A properly designed planning process will make this city-wide conversation fun, exciting, and even exhilarating. We’ll learn more about one another and that we have far more in common than otherwise. We’ll find unexpected ways to develop leadership, share funding, attract investment, and guide our decision-makers instead of relying on them to tell us what will happen.

St. Louis was a big city. It has capacity—functionally and in our hearts—to be big again. We continue to demonstrate creativity in addressing challenges. Just look at Cortex or Great Rivers Greenway or any number of city and regional efforts that we’ve invented and now serve as examples to other cities. And we can learn from other cities, in turn.

But we need to agree on our direction, mission, vision, and the paths to collective success. We need a comprehensive plan, now 70 years in the waiting. The process to create it will be stimulating. Let’s get started!

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Bob directs economic planning and implementation assignments at Development Strategies, based in St. Louis. He was part of the team that created Development Strategies in 1988 after ten years with Team Four and two years with the St. Louis County Department of Planning.

The focus of Bob’s professional work is analyzing the market, economic, and organizational forces that influence urban development and economic growth. His consulting services yield strategic recommendations for clients seeking to maximize economic value. Clients include state and local governments, private property owners and developers, corporations, government agencies, non-profits, and institutions all around the United States.

A native of Glencoe, Illinois in the Chicago area, Bob holds a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (1976) and a bachelor’s degree in business economics from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1973). He is a member of the Leadership St. Louis class of 1986-1987.

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Articles in “From the Field” represent the opinions of the author only and do not represent the views of the Community Builders Network of Metro St. Louis or the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Excellence in the Public Sector: Alana Green

Congratulations to Alana Green, Executive Director of the City of St. Louis Community Development Administration, winner of our 2017 Award for Excellence in the Public Sector!

CBN’s Award for Excellence in the Public Sector recognizes an individual, government or quasi-government department/agency, or tax-supported entity that:

• Develops or protects policy that supports investment in communities.

• Demonstrates innovative use of resources for community improvement.

• Is proactive, persistent, professional and efficient in finding ways to support community building initiatives.

Alana Green has a demanding job as the Executive Director of the City of St. Louis Community Development Administration (CDA). She manages a staff of 30 professionals who are responsible for the implementation and evaluation of approximately $20 million in federally funded programs. While working full-time, Alana earned a Juris Doctor degree from the St. Louis University School of Law, with a concentration in Urban Development, Land Use and Environmental Law. She is a graduate of the CORO Women in Leadership program and a recipient of an award from the Clinical Legal Education Association for her outstanding work in the SLU Law Legal Clinic. Alana’s persistent and professional work at CDA has increased the level of trust between community-based organizations and city government. Alana has always been open to collaborating with community-based organizations and soliciting their input, while also striving toward the highest level of professionalism for CDA.

While the process of receiving block grant funding continues to be difficult, Alana has been updating, streamlining, and improving the process since day one, endeavoring to make the grants based on community need, not political pressure. She was a key player in the successful $29.5 million Choice Neighborhoods grant and has also worked to identify Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas that will bring a new level of strategic investment in low-income communities from the City and the agencies it funds.

Excellence in the Business Sector: Michele Duffe

Congratulations to Michele Duffe, Partner at ND Consulting Group, winner of our 2017 Award for Excellence in the Business Sector!

CBN’s Award for Excellence in the Business Sector recognizes an individual or business that:

• Acts as an anchor institution for communities through investment, by providing employment, or by remaining committed to staying in communities that need economic activity.

• Involves employees in community service with community partners.

• Provides economic growth to the region and locates in neighborhoods with revitalization plans, providing employment and drawing capital into communities.

• Provides funding for community building nonprofits.

Michele Duffe, Partner at ND Consulting Group and Principal of ND&S Management, is a community business leader and anchor for North St. Louis’ Hyde Park neighborhood through her work in mixed-income real estate development, quality housing management, and social service provision. Michele has extensive expertise with housing creation and redevelopment, including a former role as Executive Director for the City of St. Louis’ Land Reutilization Authority, the nation’s first city-run land bank. In 2001, Michele helped form the ND&S Management company and partnered with Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Hyde Park to develop new housing for the first time in decades under the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program. Thanks to her dedication, low-income tenants have the opportunity to purchase their own homes. Additionally, Michele commits to employing residents from within the local community to manage the development and build a stronger sense of community.

After seeing a need to connect tenants with social services to ensure success for their families, Michele supported the creation of LinkStL (pronounced ‘links’). LinkStL, a community-based nonprofit representing the entire Hyde Park community, has achieved great successes as a community organizing model and has given hope and pride to the long-struggling neighborhood. Thanks to Michele’s leadership and vision in the business realm, sustainable and varied economic and social opportunities now exist in Hyde Park.

Excellence in Resident Leadership: Rosie Willis

Congratulations to Rosie Willis of the JeffVanderLou neighborhood, winner of our 2017 Award for Excellence in Resident Leadership!

CBN’s Award for Excellence in the Resident Leadership recognizes a resident who:

• Has shown incredible volunteerism and involvement in their community and/or community initiatives.

• Goes above and beyond normal resident action to sit on boards, head committees, or encourage the engagement of other residents.

• Lives in a CBN member footprint.

Rosie Willis is the leader of the JeffVanderLou neighborhood’s Fresh Starts Community Garden in North St. Louis City. In 2009, Ms. Willis led the charge to transform a vacant weed- and trash-covered city lot into a source of beauty and fresh, organic produce for the neighborhood. She rallied fellow residents to help build the garden on a shoestring as they struggled to find sources for funding, gardening tools, seeds, lumber for raised beds, and water to irrigate plants. Eventually, Ms. Willis applied for and received a small grant from Operation Bright Side, which allowed her to buy gardening tools, flower bulbs, and discounted cut lumber from a local company. As the group gained momentum, local Alderwoman Marlene Davis approved funding to expand the garden across another six lots.

Today, space that was once covered with trash, weeds, tall grass, and drug needles is the Fresh Starts Community Garden, where Ms. Willis continues to work tirelessly to bring fresh vegetables to fellow neighbors. The JeffVanderLou neighborhood is a recognized food desert, and the garden provides access to healthy food for many area low-income families. Fresh Starts has also helped to build relationships among residents and other stakeholders as they spend time gardening together, and was recently named Best Community Hang-Out Garden by Gateway Greening. Since there is always work to be done in the garden, it has also been a source of youth employment opportunities for the past several years. An annual Fresh Starts Candlelight Dinner event each summer brings together neighbors and guests to share special dishes, live music, and conversation.

Excellence in the Faith-Based Community: Revitalization 2000

Congratulations to Revitalization 2000, winner of our 2017 Award for Excellence in the Faith-Based Community!

CBN’s Award for Excellence in the Faith-Based Community recognizes an individual or institution that:

• Is community oriented.

• Deploys both human and financial resources to bear on neighborhood issues, policy change, or social justice issues.

• Demonstrates a willingness to collaborate with community partners.

Revitalization 2000 (R2K) is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the residents and revitalization of the Ville neighborhood in North St. Louis City. It operates programs and leads projects that build relationships between residents and non-resident volunteers. It also serves as the backbone for the Ville Collaborative, an association of organizations in the community that work together on education, beautification, neighborhood safety, and other collective initiatives. R2K emerged from St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic Parish in the Ville when it was founded in 1998 and collaborates extensively with other churches and faith-based organizations in the neighborhood.

R2K has joined with community partners to make a positive impact on the Ville through a variety of programs. It has been a leader behind several community gardens that help to beautify the neighborhood, provide residents with nutritious food, create visible change, and fortify community ties. The Claver Works youth jobs and savings program provides participants with earned income opportunities and experience in lawn and garden landscaping. R2K helps to organize the neighborhood’s annual back-to-school block party and also runs Claver House, a service-based residence community for young people making an extended volunteer commitment in the Ville. Most recently, in collaboration with a number of community partners, R2K is working to launch a new initiative that will provide hands-on educational opportunities to children living in the neighborhood. R2K is dedicated to “connecting the dots” across organizations by creating a culture of collaboration that is also grounded in their faith-based tradition.

Outstanding Achievement in Community Building: Kathy Sorkin

Congratulations to Kathy Sorkin, Vice President and Business Development Director of Rosemann & Associates, winner of our 2017 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Community Building!

CBN’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Community Building recognizes an individual who:

• Demonstrates a long standing commitment to the community building sector.

• Exhibits leadership, vision, and a commitment to action and results.

• Has achieved an outstanding impact on community building policy, investment, or community change.

Kathy Sorkin is the Vice President and Business Development Director of Rosemann & Associates. Her role includes business development, client relations, and civic and government affairs. A native of St. Louis, Kathy began her career in New York City, where she served as Coordinator of the Mayor’s Urban Action Task Force and Director of Operations for the Association of Neighborhood Housing Developers. Kathy returned to St. Louis to work on housing development initiatives with non-profit community based developers and served on the St. Louis Community Development Agency’s Board of Commissioners. After being appointed Vice President of the St. Louis Equity Fund, she worked extensively with corporate investors, non-profit and for-profit developers, architects, attorneys, and general contractors throughout the region on complex community development projects, utilizing an array of tax credit and public financing programs. Later, as Chief Operating Officer of E.M. Harris Construction Company and Chief Executive Officer of Capital Consultants, Kathy worked on some of the region’s most challenging projects and built successful collaborations between financial partners and elected officials in these public/private partnerships. She continues to be engaged with the community on a personal and professional level, advocating tirelessly for affordable housing and community development policy.

Kathy’s current role at Rosemann & Associates only frames her long-standing commitment to and engagement in the community building sector. For over fifteen years, she served as President and Board member for Habitat for Humanity, St. Louis. She is also an Executive Committee and Board Member with the Missouri Growth Association and has played a formative role in the current formation and ongoing expansion of the Missouri Workforce Housing Association. Kathy’s willingness to build relationships across sectors and her passion for community development establish her as a leader and agent of change within the field.