MIDTOWN was the first outreach center of Catholic Charities of St. Louis, but two others soon followed, one in south city and one far north. Aptly named, our site was in the middle of the other two. Later two sites were established in rural Missouri. Another site was opened in St. Charles, Missouri, although it had the highest per capita income in the region and few low-income residents. The outreach centers were organized under the name—Catholic Community Services. They were designed to bring Catholic Charities services to non-traditional recipients.
Over time, changes in population left the city of St. Louis with less than 400,000 residents. Of these residents more than 30% were low income. The racial make-up of the city was approximately 43% white and 47% African American. The remainder of the city’s population was a mix of Vietnamese and Central/South American immigrants. MIDTOWN was established to primarily help with emergency assistance for rent and utilities in eight city neighborhoods within the three parish boundaries.
The original “office” was a storefront in the middle of the three parishes’ neighborhoods. From this site people received financial assistance, some food and miscellaneous donations from church members. In the late 1980’s, the office moved into an old Catholic grade school building owned by St. Cronan Church. The building had housed an elementary school for students from Kindergarten through 5thgrade. It closed as a school in the mid-1970’s and had begun to deteriorate due to lack of use.
I learned much later Catholic Charities was preparing to close Midtown at the end of 1989. The two staff were seldom in the office and the answering machine was the only voice people heard. I started at Midtown January 1, 1990. At that time, the office was on the second floor of the school building. The back doors on the first floor were chained and locked, rooms were filled with trash and junk and my overall feeling was frustration. How long could I live with this mess? When people came, they would buzz the front doors on the first floor and I would go down from the second floor to let them in.
Hardly anyone came to the door because the people in the neighborhoods were not aware of what was happening at the site. Two staff members joined me in a month or so—a nurse and an older gentleman. He could not find a job, so he asked his pastor to put in a good word for him at Catholic Charities, and he was assigned to MIDTOWN. Together we began to engage our neighbors by asking what they would like to see happen.
Early on a young person volunteered. He was interested in becoming a missionary, but he was looking for something to do to help others until he decided on his future. He came weekly and helped me clean up and organize the office, answer the phone, do home visits and most importantly, throw out the trash. He and I spent weeks working together and every day he came we threw out a dumpster-load of trash from the second floor. He was the first of many volunteers who would help. He set the bar high because he was willing to help with whatever we needed.
As we were cleaning and throwing things away, I discovered a strange room. A second-floor room was filled with tables full of used clothing. A woman from the community came weekly and sat and waited for people to come and find clothing. No one ever came, but she took home a few items each week. I called the tables of clothing—an archeological dig. A person could go through layers of clothing from 1990 back to the 70’s. All of the clothing had been in the room, nearly untouched, for a long time.
Within two months of my start, I was notified by my boss at Catholic Charities that through the generosity of an anonymous donor, we would receive $125,000 to renovate the old school building. An answer to my prayers! We would have an opportunity to make the building welcoming to the community. The donation had one string attached—we would have to provide programs and services to children.
Another prayer answered! At the time I received the information about the donation, I was asking adults what they wanted us to do in their community. The vast majority answered—provide opportunities for children and teens. What a blessing to receive a donation to do exactly what the community wanted! Joyce was hired in May of 1990 to lead youth and group services, becoming our fourth staff person. In June of 1990 the first Summer Academy Day Camp inaugurated youth programs.
Between March and May, we renovated the old school building. Our office was moved to the first floor, closer to the front door. Air conditioning was added to the building to help facilitate summer youth programs. The back doors were unchained and repaired, windows were replaced, rooms and hallwayswere painted and all the trash was finally gone. The one-time donation provided a new playground which would be used in our youth programs. Other than one at the local public school, this was the only playground in the neighborhood.
Activities for children and adolescents became a successful complement to the family assistance programs already in place. In the early 90’s, by home visiting, staff began to identify health issues affecting children and adults. In response, health programs grew at the rate of one per year addressing asthma, lead poisoning, mental health, diabetes, high blood pressure and addiction. In 1998, we began P.E.O.P.L.E. 1st, a work readiness program, addressing employment preparation and lifestyle change for neighbors being removed from the welfare system. We survived a fire in the Spring of 2001 and programs returned to a renewed building.
To truly understand our story, it is important to understand the context of our community. Each year we served between two and three thousand families. This meant between five and nine thousand people benefited from our services. In the mid-2000’s this number peaked at 10,000 individuals finding benefit. Home visits, family assistance, and support of families and children continued to be the foundation of our reputation.
The local business community was very supportive. When I started, my boss said I had to visit businesses in the community and tell them what we were trying to accomplish. I thought this would be very difficult and not worth the effort. Around the time I was worrying about this, I read an editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch which said “in order to sustain communities there has to be a partnership between local businesses, churches, social services and families”. This partnership would bring everyone committed to an area of the city together. The article suggested a partnership could be built which would develop relationships between all stakeholders and would strengthen neighborhoods.
Using this editorial as a guide, I began to visit neighborhood businesses with a staff member. Together we felt our way forward with a presentation about what MIDTOWN would represent to the community. We sponsored business luncheons so local companies could come and see where we were. It was necessary for our building to be welcoming to the whole community. Its cleanliness and decor always impressed visitors. Within a very short time, we had commitments from several local businesses.
In urban neighborhoods with large areas in decline, people expect everything to be run-down and dirty. I told staff (particularly the custodians) how important it was for our building and grounds to reflect something different. I said our building had to be welcoming to everyone—clean and well-decorated at all times. Whether it was a neighbor coming to visit or a potential supporter stopping by, the building had to appear as what was possible. In neighborhoods which had the look of decay, outsiders would expect the worst. People who lived there would get used to things the way they were. We had to show both groups of people how things could be different.
One woman’s business contributed $100 a month for 10 years, until she retired and her son took over. Another business’ owners loved golf and wanted to sponsor a golf tournament to benefit MIDTOWN. Their commitment lasted over 10 years and the tournament continued for 22 years. After visiting a business to discuss our efforts, that business owner visited our building. After a short tour and discussion of our work, he wrote a check for $5,000 because he was so impressed by the atmosphere. Many businesses continued their support through financial contributions, helping families at Christmas, donating supplies and services, and becoming members of our board.
OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
Our service area was comprised of eight St. Louis