“Today the business community is sending a clear and strong message to its most vulnerable neighbors, that it cares and that it stands in purpose here with law enforcement to help prevent crime in their communities,” Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards said on May 16 at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Martin Luther King Urban League Head Start Center.
This message came in the form of a contribution of $900,000 from Civic Progress, the Regional Business Council, and 125 leading businesses in the region for crime prevention, intervention and enforcement in North St. Louis.
Organizations receiving funding include the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis for its Save Our Sons program, Better Family Life (BFL) for its Neighborhood Alliance program, STL Youth Jobs, The Little Bit Foundation and the North Side Community School.
This funding is primarily dedicated to an area of North St. Louis bordered by Vandeventer Avenue, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Goodfellow Boulevard and West Florissant Avenue. These particular programs were selected because of their proven track record of positive results as well as a response to the need to focus on an area of St. Louis that is experiencing some of the highest rates of violent crime.
Save Our Sons staff and graduates attended the May 16 press event. Will Donlow, one of more than 400 graduates of the program, spoke for the Urban League.
“We all know that humility comes before promotion,” said Donlow. “Our city was humbled by the Mike Brown incident. Now it’s time for our promotion. And everything’s connected. All of our hard work, all of your love, and all of your energy is connected. We are connected.”
The Urban League received $250,000 to expand Save Our Sons into North City, for crime prevention, and for police-community mediation.
“We know that money answers all things, but I have a motto that I have been going about in the Save Our Sons program and I call it ‘MOM,’” Donlow said. “It stands for Morality Over Money, and our city needs to come together with our morality to match our money and treat each other good so we can see the change that we need to see in this community.”
On top of the financial resources granted to improve public safety, member companies of Regional Business Council hired 12 contractors to conduct a four-weekend Clean Sweep program in North City neighborhoods this summer, in collaboration with BFL.
The majority of Civic Progress’ funds – $200,000 – will be given to STL Youth Jobs for summer youth employment.
“There’s a particular movie 25 percent of you may have seen called Black Panther,” said Suzanne Sitherwood, president of Civic Progress and president and CEO of Spire. “At the close of the movie, the king of Wakanda says, ‘We will work to get an example of how we as brothers and sisters on this earth should treat each other. Now more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our existence. We all know the truth. More connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another.’”
She referenced this speech to these new investments in North St. Louis. “I feel like our gathering here today is symbolic of the way we have come together as a region, and we want to look after each other. It takes all of us together in what we do best to make that happen.”
