No standing room remained at the July 24 grand opening celebration of the Better Family Life Cultural, Educational and Business Center, located at 5415 Page Blvd.
Children dressed in bright orange shirts lined the stairways to greet the 150 visitors as they came into the center’s new auditorium. As the master of ceremonies, License Collector Michael McMillan received a standing ovation when local leaders announced that he will become the next president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.
As a teen, McMillan, now 41, participated in youth programs at Better Family Life, a non-profit North St. Louis community development corporation. To start the ceremony, McMillan acknowledged his mother in the audience.
“I want to publicly apologize to her for all the times that I volunteered for Better Family Life and took over her entire refrigerator with bean pies,” said McMillan. “And for asking her to help me roll change from when we would collect donations on the corner of Natural Bridge and Kingshighway. I’m sorry, Mom.”
The agency began its capital campaign for the center in 1999. While raising funds to complete the $13 million renovation, the agency operated its programs out of more than 10 satellite sites.
The project completely restored 60,000 square feet of the former Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary building, which the agency purchased on June 29, 2005 from the St. Louis Public School District.
Built in 1901 by renowned architect William Butts Ittner, the historic building inhabits a full city block in the 26th Ward. The project’s architect was KAI, and the developer was McCormack Baron Salazar.
About 27 years ago, Better Family Life founders Malik and DeBorah Ahmed dreamed of opening a cultural center to express the history, art, culture and dance of peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora.
The center will also provide GED classes and skill-based job training, housing down payment assistance programs, business related seminars and motivational trainings.
“Because we remained cognizant of the needs of the population we serve and are diligent about serving our community in a responsible and determined way, we have been able to utilize a unique and diverse approach of blending a holistic array of products, direct services and perspectives
to the people whose lives are being changed for the better,” said Malik, BFL’s CEO.
One honored guest was Malik’s mentor of more than 30 years, Jose Ferrer, founder of the New York City Kwanzaa Holiday Expo.
“This is a tremendous day for all of us who have supported Malik and DeBorah,” Ferrer said. “In all these years, the only time I had questions about Malik’s vision was with this center. I want to say to you Malik – I will never question your vision again.”
The grand opening also celebrated another milestone in the agency’s growth. Leaders from NeighborWorks America, a network of affordable housing and community development nonprofits, announced that Better Family Life received its charter with the network.
To earn this certification, the agency had to meet strict membership criteria and performance standards. But the payoffs include earning more access to funding opportunities, technical assistance, training, programmatic support and other resources provided by federally-funded NeighborWorks America. Now Better Family Life can have a more direct hand in reconstructing North City’s residential and commercial areas.
“It is especially exciting for me because I grew up in the very areas we are working to improve,” said Tyrone Turner, director of housing for BFL. “This is another step in accomplishing our master goal of affecting long-term, positive change in our community.”
At the ceremony, NeighborWorks donated $60,000 to the center. Fifth Third Bank, which purchased $13 million in tax credits for the center, donated an additional $100,000 to help build the center’s business development programs. And McCormack Baron Salazar donated $10,000 from leaders’ personal pockets.
Malik said it took the organization almost 30 years to establish the institution of Better Family Life, Inc. and 13 years to meet its programmatic goals, which included the NeighborWorks charter.
Many people at the ceremony had been with the organization since the beginning. Etefia Umana, director of student services at Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School, said he was involved in the organization as a teenager.
“They taught us how to plan, strategize, organize and develop projects,” Umana said. “Those are very important skills, and that’s the impact of Better Family Life.”
Umana is now a BFL board member.
State Rep. Karla May spoke about the organization’s Missouri Workers Assistance program, which also teaches valuable lifelong skills. May said the center is a shared dream.
“That is what Better Family Life does,” May said. “They have the ability to bring people and resources to the table and create partnerships in order to accomplish their goals. We are in this together.”
