Juggling several bags in her arms, Cheronna M. Towns walked down the steps of the Community Women Against Hardship’s Family Support Center on March 17. She and her family loaded up their minivan with clothes, appliances and other items they needed to start their lives over.
It has been over a month since her family’s home in Berkeley caught fire, destroying everything they owned and taking the lives of her sons Stephen Jr., 4, and Isaiah, 3. Her husband, Stephen, and her 4-month-old daughter Deja survived.
As the family began to leave, the center’s founder and CEO Gloria Taylor engulfed Towns in a warm hug and told her that the center is always here for her.
“We didn’t know this day would come that we would lose everything,” Towns said. “It’s hard but with people like Gloria and her ministry – it’s truly a blessing. I truly thank God for everything they are doing for my family, my husband and my daughter who survived.”
For 25 years, Taylor and her team have been helping families such as Towns’ to get back on their feet during hard times. Located in the Central West End, the center serves about 200 families a year through various services and educational programs. For Taylor, their mission is far beyond a simple handout. She said there is little her team won’t do to make sure these families succeed.
On Friday, April 25, Taylor will receive the 2014 Lifetime Achiever in Caring for the Community Award at the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon at the Frontenac Hilton.
Taylor believes that the center reflects the community culture she grew up in.
“I grew up back in the 40s, before desegregation,” she said. “It was always neighbors helping neighbors. The neighborhood took care of each other; it was part of my culture.”
As one of ten siblings, Taylor said her grandmother would dispatch the children throughout the neighborhood to lend a hand to various families. They took good care of their clothes because they knew they’d be handing them down to other children in the neighborhood. Her childhood home is close by to where she opened the center. In fact, the playground on the corner is where she used to play as a child.
Her roots in the community played a major part in starting this program, she said.
In 1988, Taylor and the late Betty J. Lee, a respected journalist and civil rights activist, founded the organization together. At the time, both women worked for Dr. Marguerite Ross Barnett, then chancellor of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Taylor had read a report about poverty among female-headed black families in the City of St. Louis. Shocked by the statistics, the two women decided to start center with the idea that the people in need would one day be in a position to give back to others.
They purchased an old school building for $1 from the city and completed renovated it with more than $800,000 in monetary contributions and in-kind donations. The center, at 3963 West Belle Place, houses a library, a computer lab, a music laboratory, a clothing boutique, a food pantry, and a warehouse of donated furniture, appliances and various household items.
The center’s families don’t simply walk in, however. They are either referred by community partners or nominated through the St. Louis American newspaper readers. All are recommended by the public with the final selection by a panel.
“Gloria’s work and dedication exemplifies the best traditions of communal caring and sharing in the African-American community,” said Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor of the St. Louis American.
About 20 years ago, Patrice Johnson, now a board member for the organization, found herself in a tough spot. She had just gotten out of a rocky relationship, just moved from Texas and was trying to study at Forest Park Community College. She had two children and a third on the way. One of her instructors recommended her to the center, where they provided food and school supplies and diapers for her new baby. Most importantly she found important mentors such as Taylor, who she calls her “second mom.”
“It’s very beneficial to know there is an organization that is there, like a backbone, when you have nowhere else to go,” she said. “They helped me to make the right decisions when all was chaotic. You can be very emotional, and making decisions based on your emotions might not lead you to the best ones. It makes a world of difference to have that support.”
Johnson went on to earn two master’s degrees in education – one from Fontbonne and another from Lindenwood – as well as a doctorate in education administration from an online program. She is currently a business educator for the St. Louis Public Schools.
As a way to give back, Johnson became a regular tutor and mentor for the center. She has been a board member for two years. Johnson said she still hears Taylor’s voice “ringing in her ear” when she goes to make a decision. She is proud and grateful that Taylor has been that strong mentor for many women throughout the St. Louis community.
“She is an outstanding person, and she a woman of character,” Johnson said.
Tickets for the 14th Annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon on Friday, April 25 at the Frontenac Hilton are $750 per table for VIP/Corporate seating and $50 each/$500 table for Individual seating. To order tickets, call 314-533-8000 or visit www.stlamerican.com.
