In 1888, Sara Newton Cohron rallied together a group of women to care for needy black children in the community. They opened the St. Louis Colored Orphan’s Home – known today as the Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center.
Now 123 years later, Angela L. Starks, a center employee for 31 years, will become part of a legacy of dedicated leaders.
Center representatives announced April 19 that Starks will officially become chief executive officer, after serving as interim CEO for the past five months, following the retirement of Richard L. King.
Much has changed for Annie Malone over the past century. The center has preserved its home base at 2612 Annie Malone Dr. in the Historic Ville Neighborhood since 1922. When other ethnic orphanages closed in the 1950s, Annie Malone continued to provide residential care and emergency shelter.
However, the center now faces a new era of privatized foster care management in Missouri, and Starks’ task is to find a way to keep Annie Malone in business.
When the state’s department of social services decided to award its foster care management to the best-bidding consortiums of private agencies in 1997, Annie Malone formed the Northside Consortium with two other agencies and received a contract. But in 2005, they lost their contract to other consortiums.
“We used to be at the table, and we are not at the table now. We have to figure out what we could offer to the people with the contracts that’s different than what they do,” she said.
“So that has been my task. What do we do differently than all the other consortiums that have the contracts? What do I do different, and what do I do best? And what can I best offer them to continue to stay in business?”
What Annie does best
Over the past few years, the center has answered those questions and made tough decisions. Starks said the services they provide best are crisis intervention, special education, respite care for the juvenile court and transitional living for homeless teens or teens aging out of the foster care system.
However, its residential component – historically the nugget of the agency – has downsized considerably.
Annie Malone annually serves more than 130 children in residential care, 200 families in the crisis center, 400 day-care clients, and 1,000 teenagers through community-based programs.
The center provides temporary care for children whose parents/guardians are experiencing an unexpected and unstable condition that requires short-term care, usually three to five days. These are children who may be at risk for child abuse and neglect.
The center’s largest service is the Emerson Academy, an alternative educational setting for students with behavioral disorders and learning disabilities in grades K-12. When Starks arrived in the ‘80s, there was only one classroom. Now the academy has five classrooms and 30 students.
The center also provides long-term shelter for homeless teens, 16 to 21, or teens aging out of the foster care system. The center’s 18-month program helps teens prepare for living on their own, which includes classes and structured living. They live in a group home or scattered apartments.
‘All or none’
Starks came to Annie Malone as a case worker – and a single mother raising a son – in 1980.
“It was a big challenge because I was fairly young at the time. It was fairly different from where I came from,” she said.
“I came from a health center. I quickly learned that it was not ‘turn off at 5:30.’ You worked in someone’s living environment. It was a consuming job. It was all or none. Every time I thought about leaving, a new challenge arose.”
Every time she thought about moving on and finding something that was less complicating for her life, she was promoted, she said. First she became project director of the crisis center, which reached out to people in the community who were at risk of abusing their children. The center provides a babysitting service, along with parenting classes.
She held that position until 1990 and then was promoted to director of professional services, where she oversaw the implementation of all the center’s programs. In 2001, she became chief operation officer of the agency.
“Here I am in 2011 – CEO. I never thought that would happen, but I feel very blessed,” she said.
“My goal is to let people know that we are not just a parade. We provide services for families in the St. Louis community. People need to know there is someplace to go when they are in a crisis, especially when children are involved. We are not the long-term residential facility like we used to be, but we are a short-term crisis intervention center.”
Delsie Boyd, board chairperson, said, “With 30 years experience at Annie Malone, her social service skills and knowledge in program development and management, counseling and fundraising adds a considerable amount of value to the agency.”
