Since 1918, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis has worked to help African Americans and others achieve equality in the community. Last year, the Urban League served more than 91,000 residents with 27 programs in the areas of Economic Opportunity, Community Empowerment, Educational Excellence, Civil Rights and Advocacy. Rather than rest on the laurels of our 97-year history, the time has come for the League to build an advocacy, civil rights and social service movement that is relevant to the needs of African Americans and others in the 21st century.
Early in 2014, the Urban League launched the Roadmap to Opportunity Strategic Plan to effectively position the agency for future success. Our strategy included plans to increase youth and senior services to better serve the needs of these populations and expand services in East St. Louis. Following the Ferguson crisis, the Urban League noted the lack of available resources in the immediate vicinity of North County. We immediately began working to make a difference in the area: distributing food and school supplies to the residents, offering utility assistance and job fairs, helping community organizers to create lasting and peaceful change.
With this in mind, we partnered with QuikTrip Corporation and other corporate partners to create the Community Empowerment Center of Ferguson on West Florissant Avenue. The Save Our Sons program was also created as a direct response to the civil unrest to help young African-American men living in North County find jobs. Since January, the Urban League has helped more than 125 men find jobs as a result of the SOS program. We are excited about the program’s success and look forward to creating a Save Our Sons chapter in St. Louis. Our goal is to make this program a model to be incorporated across the National Urban League movement.
This summer, the Urban League also partnered with SLATE and America’s Job Center of St. Louis County to offer more than 1,300 jobs to low-income youth. In addition, the League received a grant from the Citi Foundation and America’s Promise Alliance to provide 250 youth and young adults aged 16-24 with 21st century IT skills training and credentialing that can lead to long-term employment for the Youth Tech Workforce Initiative.
We also look forward to expanding our Head Start services to serve nearly 1,000 pre-school-aged children in St. Louis city and county. This year, we have also partnered with Great Rivers Greenway to provide employ trail rangers to serve as ambassadors to those using the Mary Meachum Trail and Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing and Rest Area. These new programs are strategically aligned with our plan to more effectively serve youth and young adults. Next year, we intend to expand our services in Illinois.
In 2017, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis is excited to host the National Urban League Conference in St. Louis for the second time in 10 years. Not only will this conference set the civil rights agenda for the nation, it also will have tremendous economic impact by bringing more than 4,000 visitors to St. Louis.Â
While the Urban League has witnessed significant growth over the past 2 ½ years, we look forward to working on the Ferguson Commission’s initiatives to identify job training best practices and to establish regional baselines for diversity and equity throughout our region, among other efforts. It is our hope that each of the Ferguson Commission’s recommendations be implemented with a sense of urgency to bring greater stability, justice, equity and, ultimately, growth to the entire St. Louis metropolitan area.
The Urban League is especially grateful for the new opportunities that have been given to us to make a greater difference in the lives of our clients and better the community in which we all live but there is much more work to be done. To join us in the movement, you can become a member, donor or part of one our auxiliaries by visiting www.ulstl.org or calling 314-615-3668.
Michael P. McMillan is president / CEOÂ of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.
