RBC organized fund for small businesses affected by unrest in Ferguson

Like you, we at the Missouri Budget Project have been deeply moved by the events in Ferguson over the last 10 days. A young man lost his life. A family is now plagued with unimaginable grief and yet unanswered questions. And, Ferguson, St. Louis and Missouri have become the center of international news with images that are reminiscent of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

As our communities struggle to tackle the difficult issues of race and the trust in and accountability of law enforcement, we are left to question if our society has really advanced so little in the last 50 years. Is this an anomaly, or do the events of the last 10 days epitomize a structural crisis in Missouri that has created deep inequality?

David Nicklaus’ recent column in the St. Louis Post Dispatch points to a deep-routed crisis that has been fostered by decades of neglect within the public policies of the state. He points out some critical facts:

• St. Louis is not only one of the most segregated large metro areas in the U.S., it also has an unusually large economic gap between black and white. The unemployment rate for African-Americans here is about three times as high as the rate for whites.

* Census figures show that in 2012 the metropolitan unemployment rate for African-American men between the ages of 16 and 24 was 47 percent- nearly three times the rate for young white men in the area.

* A study called the Equality of Opportunity Project ranked us fourth from the bottom among 100 large cities on something called relative mobility, which compares the prospects for people born at the bottom and the top of the income distribution.

* In more mobile places such as San Jose or Seattle, a person born poor is twice as likely to move up the income ladder as a person born into the same circumstances in St. Louis.

* Segregated housing and underperforming schools are among the things that are highly correlated with a lack of economic mobility.

* North County was also the epicenter of the area’s foreclosure crisis, and house prices in Ferguson are down 37 percent from their peak in 2007, according to Zillow.

We don’t have all of the answers, but we do know that change is required of all of us as individuals, and within our state public policies. Over the next several years, we must evaluate the public policies in Missouri that have fostered this crisis, and work to create instead a platform of policies that provide for opportunities for all Missourians.

In the meantime, there are many opportunities for all of us to be engaged in helping with the immediate needs of the Ferguson Community:

A number of St. Louis area nonprofits are coordinating to provide supplies and services that are needed in Ferguson. Donations of non-perishable food items, personal care items including diapers, soap, shampoo, diapers, and hygiene products, and bottled water are needed for community members who have been unable to reach stores. Items can be brought to The Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry 10601 Baur Blvd. Creve Coeur, 63132, which will deliver the collected items to food pantries in the Ferguson area.

Several additional nonprofit organizations, including the United Way, Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Urban League of Metro St. Louis, the St. Louis Area Food Bank and others will be staffing a Community Resource Drop-In Center at the Dellwood Community Center, 10266 West Florissant Avenue, from Wednesday to Sunday, August 20-24, from 10 am to 2 pm. Respite, hot meals, children’s activities, case management services and individual emergency assistance will be available. 

Or, donate to the nonprofit of your choice.

The St. Louis Regional Business Council has organized a fund to provide relief to small businesses affected by the unrest in Ferguson. The Reinvest North County Fund, which received an initial $10,000 donation from the RBC, will also provide school districts in the area with “appropriate resources,” according to a statement from the group. Donations can be made to North County Regional Development Association, 350B Village Square Drive, Hazelwood, MO 63042.

Amy Blouin is executive director of the Missouri Budget Project.