When Nicholas Armstrong walks his block in Dutchtown, he sees signs of progress alongside reminders of how much work remains. After two years in the south St. Louis neighborhood, he’s watched long-neglected properties shape daily life — and seen how community-led efforts are beginning to shift that trajectory.
“Vacancy and blight affect everyone,” he said. “They pose health and safety risks, drive down property values, and take away what makes our neighborhood feel like a safe place to call home.”
Dutchtown is one of the St. Louis neighborhoods expected to benefit from a $250,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation to Legal Services of Eastern Missouri’s Neighborhood Advocacy program. The initiative provides legal representation to neighborhood groups seeking to reclaim vacant or deteriorating properties — an urgent need in a city with nearly 9,000 vacant buildings, many concentrated in historically disinvested areas.
A neighborhood tool for tackling vacancy
Since its launch in 2018, Neighborhood Advocacy has partnered with more than three dozen neighborhood associations and local developers. The program has helped spur rehabilitation of 727 vacant housing units and supported more than $10 million in private investment.
Armstrong said he’s seen momentum in Dutchtown as organizations have taken on more of the problem themselves.
“Community-led efforts have done a great deal to raise awareness of the harms of vacancy and rally residents around the common goal of reducing it,” he said. “Many of my neighbors seem hopeful and optimistic about our community’s future, and that is always a positive sign.”
The new grant will allow LSEM to dedicate a full-time attorney to two high-need neighborhoods, including Dutchtown. Peter Hoffman, managing attorney for the program, said expanded staffing means the team can take on significantly more cases in the same geographic area — moving from a few properties each year to more than a dozen.
“This funding lets us concentrate more attorney time where we’re already seeing real momentum,” Hoffman said. “Residents will see more cases moving, more problem properties addressed, and more visible progress, faster.”
Using the courts to break cycles of absentee ownership
Hoffman said community-initiated litigation remains one of the few direct tools to disrupt long-term vacancy, particularly when city agencies have limited capacity.
“A neighborhood-led court action can force an absentee owner to the table,” he said. “If a property has been abandoned outright, these actions can also clear title and make it possible to return the property to productive use.”
For Armstrong, the legal support strengthens ongoing work by groups such as Dutchtown Main Streets, the St. Joseph Housing Initiative, Lutheran Development Group and the Dutchtown Community Improvement District.
“These groups have done a great deal to protect our neighborhood from long-neglected, unsafe, and abandoned properties,” he said. “A continuation of these efforts would only make things better.”
He said outside involvement is welcome if residents remain central in decision-making.
“As long as the interests of the people in our community are prioritized and our voices are heard, I absolutely would welcome outside advocates and developers,” he said.
A resident-driven model
Hoffman said the program is structured so neighborhoods determine their own priorities. He noted that the group’s job is to supply legal guidance, not direct the agenda, and that neighborhood associations choose which properties to focus on and what goals they want to pursue. The community sets the redevelopment strategy, and his team helps carry it out.
The Wells Fargo Foundation said its support fits within its broader housing and community development strategy.
“We are deeply committed to investing in St. Louis and strengthening the region through our housing initiatives,” said Vianey Beltran, vice president of philanthropy and community impact. “By supporting affordable housing and empowering local communities, we strive to create lasting impact and help build a brighter future for everyone who calls St. Louis home.”
‘It gives people hope’
For Armstrong, the investment is another step toward restoring stability — and pride — in a neighborhood still working to reclaim its potential.
“When you see neighbors working together, community groups stepping up, and now legal advocates joining that effort, it gives people hope,” he said. “And hope is something every neighborhood needs.”