The Demetrious Johnson Foundation is getting a building of its own.
Through a lease deal of $1 with the City of St. Louis, the charitable foundation is about to move into its first-ever home in the old West End Recreation Center, 724 Union Blvd.
“This is a dream opportunity for us,” said Demetrious Johnson, founder and namesake of the foundation and a former NFL player.
“It’s going to give them pride and come to a facility where they can call their own.”
The foundation has been working with inner-city kids in St. Louis for close to 20 years. It offers mentoring, financial and vocational programs, such as Champions of Change, where the foundation works with the juvenile courts to place youth in Job Corps.
“We don’t charge kids. We never have and never will,” Johnson said. He said the only thing required is “sweat equity,” which means the kids have to be committed to community service and do well in school.
He is calling upon volunteer effort to refurbish the foundation’s new facility. Rebuilding Together and Cricket Communications are stepping in with volunteers to restore the basketball court and weight room and to create a lounge for teenagers. The building will have newly painted rooms, new flooring, security cameras and a system to identify individuals who use the center.
An auditorium in the building will be rehabilitated as a venue for concerts, plays and other activities. One such activity is Hot Summer Nights, organized for teens who have volunteered through the foundation and received recommendation letters from school. They are rewarded with a dance concert featuring local acts and guest speakers.
“I believe people want something nice,” Johnson said. “People respond to expectations.”
Carla Clark said her son Darion Clark responded to the foundation and its expectations when he was going through a hard time.
“Darion is out of his shell, a lot more focused on getting on the honor roll and dean’s list,” Carla Clark said. “He really wants to be a part of mentoring younger kids.”
She said she is “extremely appreciative” of Johnson’s efforts and the structure provided by the foundation. “The people who work with him are just as concerned,” she said.
Johnson understands growing up in difficult circumstances. He was raised in the Darst-Webbe housing project and graduated from McKinley High School before moving onto success in football at the University of Missouri–Columbia and in the NFL. He is currently athletic national sales manager for Covidien.
At age 14, Jazell Williams is one of the foundation’s young volunteers who enjoys making people happy. She goes door to door for the foundation, donating turkeys during Thanksgiving and helping to pass out toys to the younger children at the annual Christmas party.
Williams like the fact that she gets to help out people who are less fortunate than she is. “I help impact different people’s lives,” Williams said.
“We want to make sure they are an extension of us and we are an extension of them,” Johnson said of his young volunteers.
For more information or to volunteer, visit djgiveback.com or call at 314-568-1204.
