Introducing Invest STL’s Rooted Powerbook – A Blueprint for Place-based Wealth Building

Introducing Invest STL’s Rooted Powerbook – A Blueprint for Place-based Wealth Building

Apr 29, 2025

April 29, 2025

At Invest STL, we identify, try, evaluate, and facilitate potential solutions to systemic issues facing predominantly Black neighborhoods, including displacement. In 2023, we set out to investigate if direct funds can help Black residents remain in their chosen community by increasing access to assets such as housing, long-term capital, and business development. This became our Rooted: Cultivating Black Wealth in Place pilot, an initiative that provided 50 Black households in the West End and Visitation Park neighborhoods of St. Louis with funding and support to build long-term, generational wealth; own and protect property; build and scale businesses; and invest in their futures—especially as development and speculative real estate activity increases significantly in their neighborhoods.

Based on our pilot initiative, we developed the Rooted Powerbook: Action Steps for Investing Directly in People to Prevent Displacement through Wealth Building, a comprehensive guide that documents our process, learnings, and best practices—so other communities can replicate and scale similar wealth-building efforts.

A Unique Approach to Complex Issues: Wealth Building x Financial Planning x Anti-Displacement

The Rooted initiative takes a unique approach to complex issues by merging wealth building and financial planning in a place-based effort to prevent displacement during gentrification. This is one localized effort, and we hope it inspires more pathways for policy change.

By integrating wealth-building programs into their strategies, policymakers would be able to offer focused financial support to help individuals and families accumulate assets, secure stable housing, and resist being pushed out of their neighborhoods. This approach not only addresses immediate displacement issues but also promotes long-term, equitable growth by working to ensure all community members have a fair chance to benefit from local development and prosperity.

We are taking a big swing at an issue prevalent in many urban cities and neighborhoods across the United States. We invite you to join us on this journey to learn about what we have tried in developing this effort and our lessons learned so far.

The $22K Investment: A Thoughtful Approach to Community Wealth Building in Place

One of the biggest challenges in designing Rooted was determining the right investment amount and the number of participants (known as “resident investors”) to make the most meaningful impact. Our starting budget was $1 million, and we needed to balance maximizing impact with ensuring a statistically significant sample size for future evaluation and replication.

Finding the Right Amount

  • Initial considerations pointed to $10,000 per resident investor, but market data indicated this amount was too low to make a real impact.
  • While $40,000 would have been ideal for wealth building, it would have only allowed 25 residents to participate, limiting the program’s broader neighborhood impact and evaluative reliability.
  • We landed on $20,000 per resident investment as the most viable amount for the St. Louis market—enough to support home purchases, repairs, business investments, and other wealth-building activities while ensuring an impactful sample size of 50 residents.

Addressing Immediate Financial Needs

  • In addition to the $20,000 investment, each resident investor also received $2,000 for immediate financial concerns such as paying off debt, property taxes, or establishing an emergency savings fund.
  • This decision was based on conversations with community members and data showing that the footprint’s average unsecured household debt was $2,200. We recognized it would not be realistic or reasonable for residents to ignore any existing financial burdens in favor of long-term wealth building.
  • Rather than making this amount need-based, we raised additional funds to ensure all resident investors received it, recognizing that financial circumstances can shift unpredictably.

We understand $22,000 may not be substantial enough for a wealth-building investment in other communities. Please consider your area’s cost of living, housing market, area median income, and existing financial burdens the community might have when setting individual investment amounts.

Lessons Learned from Implementation

While the Rooted pilot provided critical support to resident investors, we also encountered key challenges and learning opportunities that have informed our approach moving forward:

Residents faced financial hardships that exceeded our original allocation

  • Some participants struggled with high debt, overdue property taxes, major car repairs, or housing instability that $2,000 couldn’t fully cover.
  • Future iterations of the program could consider additional emergency financial support to address these urgent needs.

The rising cost of home repairs affected funding allocation

  • The initiative was designed before the sharp increase in construction costs following the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Some residents who chose to invest in home improvements found their funds didn’t stretch as far as expected.
  • Other programs should consider adjustable funding models that account for economic fluctuations.

Why the Rooted Powerbook Matters

The Rooted Powerbook is more than just a report—it’s a blueprint for other neighborhoods, cities, and organizations looking to replicate Invest STL’s approach to place-based wealth building and wealth building as an anti-displacement strategy. It details the decision-making process, data considerations, program implementation, and real-world impact so that this initiative can serve as a model for future efforts nationwide.

By openly sharing our findings and experiences, we hope to encourage policymakers, funders, and community organizations to invest in similar models that support Black property ownership, entrepreneurship, and generational financial prosperity.

What’s Next?

The impact of this pilot in the West End and Visitation Park neighborhoods is just the beginning. As we continue evaluating the impact of our Rooted model, we’re poised to share the initiative’s impact. We aim to help others build similar wealth-building, cash transfer, and anti-displacement projects and programs for their neighborhoods and cities.

The ultimate goal? To create a nationwide movement that elevates wealth-building as a place-based investment strategy for Black and other communities at risk of displacement and erasure. The people who have tended to their communities when others neglected them deserve to be the first to benefit when there’s an economic upswing. Direct cash investments to seed wealth building can help their roots in their chosen place run longer and stronger for the next generation.

Interested in Learning More?

Visit our Rooted page to download the Rooted Powerbook and explore how direct investments can drive transformative change for people and their chosen communities.

Check out our News + Updates page to stay informed about other Invest STL initiatives and work like Rooted.

Resident Story Series | Vandeventer Neighborhood | Catherine Knights

Resident Story Series | Vandeventer Neighborhood | Catherine Knights

Oct 9, 2024

October 9, 2024

As a descendant of Mississippi sharecroppers that made their journey to The Ville, one of St. Louis’ legacy Black neighborhoods, Catherine Knights has called seven STL neighborhoods home throughout her lifetime, though she is choosing to call Vandeventer home.

The Ville has been home to legendary people and institutions, such as Sonny Liston, Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, the Homer G. Phillips hospital, and is the birthplace of Catherine Johnson, now Mrs. Catherine Knights.

Her journey from The Ville, took her through St. Louis neighborhoods like Cochran Projects-Cochran Garden, Laclede Town, Central West End, West End, Wells-Goodfellow, and now she calls Vandeventer neighborhood her forever home. Continue reading to learn why Catherine has chosen to call Vandeventer home for the past 45 years, and why she plans to for the rest of her days. 

“The Vandeventer neighborhood is a prime location to live in due to its proximity to everyday essentials that a family would need, space that businesses can operate within, and access to recreational opportunities,” according to Catherine.  

The St. Louis City neighborhood was founded in the 1870s, and is currently home to 2,000+ people.

Catherine shared with Invest STL that she could move elsewhere such as Seattle, where her husband, a doctor of 30 years, resides. Perhaps she would have chosen a place with less harsh seasons. That would allow her to be out and about more as someone with more mobility needs than she once had, but she doesn’t see herself ever leaving Vandeventer.

Having nice neighbors that look out for each other is one of the reasons that Catherine loves her neighborhood, along with having shade trees in her yard to shield from the St. Louis summer sun.

Catherine’s favorite thing about Vandeventer, other than her neighbors and beautiful yard, is the historic and memory-filled home that she has owned and invested love and care into for 45 years. 

When it comes to neighborhood involvement, Catherine is no stranger to her neighbors or her neighborhood.  

Catherine shared, “When I moved to the house in 1979 I immediately sought out the community organizations and joined SLACO almost at its founding in 1980. I have been a member ever since.  

I’ve served on neighborhood organizations and block units continuously as a member and officer. I am now Secretary/Treasurer of the Vandeventer CDC. 

Beginning in the late 1990s we wrote the original North Central Plan. Beginning in 2019 with the financial support of the Deaconess Foundation we revised, and got the plan approved and adopted by the St. Louis City government. It is the current North Central Plan of comprehensive development for Vandeventer, Covenant Blu and Grand Center.” 

When Catherine is not doing things with her neighbors, she is tending to neighborhood needs – not just for the people she calls neighbors, but the animals she calls neighbors as well! As Catherine is the self proclaimed cat lady of her neighborhood! 

Catherine shared that she doesn’t like the way that Black neighborhoods are portrayed in St. Louis from the news and other media outlets. She believes that, “People need to have positive learning to have an opinion on a place,” which is part of why Catherine and her neighbors, Barbara Murphy, Yvonne Carter, and Judith Arnold applied for the Small Dollars Action Fund, a funding opportunity provided by Invest STL and SLACO that has been designed to provide funding that activates neighbors to connect and engage with one another.  

Their neighborhood collective were awardees of the Small Dollars Action Fund in the fall cycle of 2023.

To learn more about The Small Dollars Action Fund please visit this link. The SDAF will open again in January, so there is some time to take a look around and get a couple of your neighbors together to plan your spring activities now. Check our website or email sdaf@investstl.org for any questions regarding when the cycles are open and closed. 

The Invest STL team is appreciative of the time, energy, and storytelling that Mrs. Catherine shared with us. Her stories, background, and a glimpse into why she chooses Vandeventer help enrich our understanding of community and home. 

For more information on how you can get involved in Vandeventer please visit the Vandeventer CDC website, and stay up to date with what is going on in Vandeventer by connecting with their page on Facebook. 

Want to get active in your neighborhood, but not sure where to look? Check out the neighborhood map located in our Neighborhood Toolbox. 

Invest STL Pilot Program focused on keeping residents Rooted in the community

Invest STL Pilot Program focused on keeping residents Rooted in the community

Jul 17, 2023

“This is not just a dream or something that is so far away that you can’t reach. This is happening in our community and it’s happening with people that are here.” – Star Stinson, West End resident and Rooted participant. Watch the Fox 2 story to learn more about Rooted: Cultivating Black Wealth in Place and how the new initiative from Invest STL is supporting residents’ ability to stay and grow in the place they call home.

 

Can Wealth-Building Programs Both Prevent Displacement and Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap?

Can Wealth-Building Programs Both Prevent Displacement and Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap?

Jul 14, 2023

In recent years, the West End and Visitation Park neighborhoods of St. Louis have begun to see signs of gentrification. These historically Black communities are experiencing increased economic investment, rising rent and housing prices, and a growing white and higher-income population. Absent any intervention, these forces of economic development and chance could displace long-time Black residents.

However, one nonprofit community development intermediary and funder in St. Louis, Missouri, Invest STL, is piloting Rooted, Cultivating Black Wealth in Place, an initiative aimed at combating displacement in two historically Black neighborhoods. The Urban Institute is evaluating the program to assess its impact on displacement risk and wealth building. The analysis will also uncover financial planners’ role in helping beneficiaries pursue these outcomes. And if this pilot is successful, scaling it could help address the racial wealth gap more broadly. Click her to read the whole story from the Urban Institute’s blog Urban Wire.