The Ferguson Community Empowerment Center held a Christmas party on Friday, December 8 to welcome the community to the space and raise awareness of the services it offers.
The Community Empowerment Center is located at the former site of a QuikTrip gas station which was burnt out during the protests surrounding a Ferguson police officer’s killing of unarmed black teen Michael Brown in 2014.
The QuikTrip Corporation donated the property to the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, which now provides social services at the site, along with several other non-profit organizations, after opening in July.
Reyna Spencer is a project manager for Urban Strategies, a social services organization that is advising the community center. Spencer and her organization helped organize the holiday event. The mission, she said, was to inform residents about the services available at the community center and seek their feedback.
“The event is Christmas cheer combined with, ‘We’re gonna support you. These are the services that are available out of this empowerment center,’” Spencer said. “This is a, ‘Hello, merry Christmas, and we’re here.’”
Other partners at the event included the Southeast Ferguson Community Association, the Urban League, the Salvation Army, Urban Strategies, Inc., Lutheran Hope Center, Alliance Community Credit Union and the Ferguson Police Department.The community center will connect residents with services including the Urban Leagues’ Save Our Sons program, health centers and career services.
“What they wanted to do was come together in a collaborative spirit, show the community that they’re here and they want to support the community, including Christmas cheer,” Spencer said.
Susie Mayberry-Parker, who attended the event and works with the non-profit FOCUS St. Louis, said she hoped the center would provide residents with assistance on their utility bills and support for fathers.
“Whatever outreach is necessary for social change and environmental change,” she said.
Mayberry-Parker said she had seen incremental change since the protests in Ferguson, but hoped to see more.
The event provided dinner, children’s activities and an opportunity to take photos with Santa Claus alongside its social services offering.
“It’s a holistic approach to supporting residents in this area,” Spencer said.
