FOCUS St. Louis and the United Way of Greater St. Louis will host the first of three community forums addressing area challenges on Wednesday, Sept. 21, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at The Sheldon Ballroom, 3648 Washington Blvd in Grand Center.
“Our region faces many challenges, from the ability to afford basic living expenses to unanticipated crises that arise on any given day, creating the need for poised and positioned leadership at all levels of our community,” said Michelle Tucker, United Way of Greater St. Louis president and CEO.
The United Way completed a study in 2020 that revealed the concerns ranked among the highest priorities in the region. They are affordable housing, jobs and transportation, and behavioral health.
The Sept. 21 forum, which is free and open to the public, will focus on affordable housing and will feature Nahuel Fefer, Policy and Development director for Mayor Tishaura Jones; Cristina Garmendia, URBNRX founder; Will Jordan, Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council executive director, and Wolf Smith, St. Louis Conflict Resolution Center executive director.
“A healthy community is one where all residents have access to safe and healthy homes, economic mobility, reliable transportation, quality education, physical activity and nutrition, and quality health care, especially mental health resources,” said Yemi Akande-Bartsch, FOCUS St. Louis president and CEO.
“These are issues we explore every day in our civic leadership programs, and we look forward to bringing those discussions to our wider St. Louis community.”
Registration for the Sept. 21 forum is available at www.focus-stl.org/affordablehousing. Participants are welcome to bring a lunch, or a pre-ordered boxed lunch from Hollyberry’s Catering for $17 will be available. This option is available when registering.
Behavioral Health, and Jobs and Transportation forums will be held respectively on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, and Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
“We are excited to launch this partnership with FOCUS and bring community leaders and changemakers together to find new and innovative solutions to address the community’s most pressing needs so our region can become stronger and more equitable for all,” Tucker said.
