Brickline Greenway championing underserved communities 

The derelict buildings and overgrown vacant lots have been big contributors to the blight and safety concerns that have plagued Daphne Redding’s St. Louis Place neighborhood for decades. These problems, she says, prevent her neighborhood from thriving.  All of that is about to change.

A new collaborative community development corporation is going to help transform neighborhoods along the northern part of Brickline Greenway Brickline North. The Brickline North Community Development Corporation BNCDC will serve Covenant Blu Grand Center, Jeff-Vander-Lou, and St. Louis Place neighborhoods, providing comprehensive community development services that include revitalization, public safety initiatives, nonprofit and small business support, and community engagement and advocacy.

“This CDC will be an important infrastructure for helping shape future investments, both by supporting existing efforts and catalyzing new efforts that will contribute to an ever-more-flourishing North Grand Corridor community,” Redding said. “The formation of this CDC has given our communities the ambition to advance and transform our living spaces.”

Audrey Ellerman had her home built in 2001 in the Covenant Blu Grand Center community as part of a development plan that she said didn’t accomplish the goals that were set out for her community. Their basic needs to have safe sidewalks, paved streets, and other infrastructure projects aren’t being met. 

“The formation of the new CDC has not only been a wonderful experience; it is a dream come true,” said Ellerman, a 20-plus-year Covenant Blu Grand Center resident. “This will assure the community that the North Central plan will be implemented and will complement the efforts of the Brickline Greenway, assuring a better future for the neighborhoods. It gives the residents a voice – ‘Nothing about us without us’ – an extraordinary change is about to happen, the first of its kind in St. Louis.”

This collaborative effort by representatives from each of the three neighborhoods it will serve will work side-by-side with T. Christopher Peoples, Director of Equity + Economic Impact for Great Rivers Greenway. “My role exists to ensure that the Brickline Greenway is an asset that creates a ripple effect of thoughtful, sustainable support for this community, such as repopulation and opportunities for shared prosperity,” Peoples said. “I’ve spent the last two years listening and collaborating, and now we’ve come together to create this CDC as a vehicle to both implement and amplify efforts happening in these three neighborhoods, particularly when no other tool is available.”

BNCDC is a nonprofit organization that works to empower individuals and neighborhoods served by the Brickline Greenway’s North Connector by fostering inclusive and sustainable neighborhoods through collaborative initiatives and partnerships. Community members like Redding and Ellerman have felt ignored and frustrated by the promises that have not been kept over the last 20 years, resulting in distrust with elected officials and developers. Participation from residents at community meetings is steadily decreasing. 

Redding hopes the partnership with the BNCDC will encourage other investors to support neighborhoods north of Delmar. “We don’t have a lot of resources,” she said. She describes her neighborhood as a food desert. The closing of the Walgreens at the intersection of North Grand and Page Avenue is one of many resources that are leaving vulnerable neighborhoods. 

Peoples said he hopes to repopulate these communities with more resources, affordable housing, and sustainable market-rate housing. 

Over the years Ellerman says she has had to deal with illegal dumping and that Brickline Greenway has been a champion for neighborhoods like hers. 

BNCDC will operate in conjunction with the many neighborhood organizations, neighboring CDCs, St. Louis Development Corporation, and individual stakeholders and neighbors alike to determine when the entity is the right fit for any given task, supporting the collective vision for the area. Stay informed on the project and process by subscribing for updates at www.GreatRiversGreenway.org/subscribe. 

Ashley Winters is a Report for America reporter for the St. Louis American.