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WeCollab Resident-led Neighborhood Plan – A New Standard

WeCollab Resident-led Neighborhood Plan – A New Standard

by | Jun 15, 2023 | Uncategorized

The adoption of the WeCollab neighborhood plan is historic for what it is and how it was conceived; its authentic commitment to making real the vision and initiatives that residents want to see is a signal to the larger ecosystem that a new approach is already making a positive impact. At the June 14th hearing, St. Louis City’s Planning Commission adopted the neighborhood plan to great applause from a packed room of neighbors, partners, and supporters. The city planning department had been engaged early in the process in the development of the draft, which helps increase the efficiency of assessing proposals when they get to this stage of development. These coordinated efforts grew through a collaborative process that extends back through years of relationship and partnership building between residents, neighborhood partners, funders and facilitators, technical support partners, city agencies and department partners, all sharing their expertise, listening, and supporting a resident-led plan and planning process.

What does resident-led planning look like and what does this impact mean for residents and our broader community and economic development ecosystem? Hear it in their own words, below are a few snapshots from WeCollab resident leaders and our team member reflecting on their trip to Charlotte, NC, to receive a Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism.

We also invite you to watch this fine video WeCollab Wins CNU Award produced by YARD & Company, WeCollab’s planning partner, showcasing the neighborhood, residents, and the power of people in the West End and Visitation Park collaborating to create a new standard. 

“The WeCollab planning process has set a new standard for community engagement within the Congress for New Urbanism.” – Megan O’Hara, CNU Jury Chair. Principal and Partner, Urban Design Associates

From St. Louis, MO to Charlotte, NC – a snapshot from April Walker, WeCollab Community Ambassador

When Kevin from YARD & Company, our planning partner, first told us that we would be receiving an Award way back in February, I started making plans to attend. My mom and both of my daughters are also WeCollab Community Ambassadors and they wanted to go as well, so we booked an Airbnb in Charlotte. I was so excited I told my other family members, and they made plans to attend as well. In total, eight family members, all the way from Washington state to Alabama attended this award ceremony with us.

While at the airport to pick up the rental car, the attendant asked me where we were going, and I explained to him about the award. He said, “That is so cool! Congratulations on the work you are doing.” Once we arrived in Charlotte, every restaurant, the mall, ice-cream shop we went to, we told people why we were in Charlotte and about the award. It was so nice telling people and everyone was really complimentary.

At the award ceremony itself, what struck me was that we were the largest group there. We were the best dressed group and – we were the only group that had a resident-led plan. We were in the room with developers, architects, city planners, students, professors, even a mayor, but no one had residents or the people who were going to be the recipients of those plans in attendance. Several people came up to me afterwards and said, “Wow, I guess a resident-led plan is the way to go,” or “that is really an innovative way to look at city planning.” You could tell that the thought of having a community involved from start to finish was just something they had never even given a thought. They seem interested now, seeing our process. My family members too, on seeing the video remarked how they were going to take what we were doing back to their hometowns. They are showing the video at their community meetings.

 

From St. Louis, MO to Charlotte, NC – a snapshot from Lorin Lennon, Invest STL Collaboration Support Partner

As we touched down in North Carolina and began navigating Charlotte’s airport, I felt a sense of purpose to our being there. We’ve been moving together throughout this whole journey; walking together, discovering, developing a resident-led neighborhood plan – now we have the opportunity to celebrate and share our very local heart work with an international audience.

Landing comfortably towards the front of the auditorium at the CNU Chart Awards ceremony, that sense of purpose called out with a unique sound, tones of openness, pride, class. I felt among greatness. On my right was a member of our team, Alexa Seda, Senior Planner at the City of St. Louis, while to my left was the student winner, an Ethiopian girl who designed an entire neighborhood following culturally significant traditions and local materials. It reminded me of the study I had done not too long ago with African architects, builders, designers, and artists about designing in culturally relevant ways. In the United States, we may not all be tied to our definitive ethnic roots, but we have created a culture worth celebrating, designing in, and upholding in how we practice. It was inspiring to notice the variety of people and places represented and just how widespread this work and movement is. Recognizing where the projects were based, some of the firms behind them, and my own personal resonance with New Urbanism principles and these real-life examples was energizing. I mean, I didn’t know New Urbanism was a ‘thing,’ but I think we are practicing elements of it every day. So much of what I aspire to for society and urban life, this movement captures. It was fun to learn about something new, and I’m already a part of it!

From the Award Ceremony we enjoyed a brief walk to a nearby restaurant. We passed a park that was created through a collaboration between the University of North Carolina and the City of Charlotte. Urban planning professors and students worked together to activate the space that had sat unoccupied for years near the DeBois Center where the ceremony took place. Our walk was active, passing people from all walks of life that I wouldn’t typically expect to see in a place like this. It signaled to me that the members of the CNU practice what they preach and consider something for everyone to share and take part in. Our team was so excited and continued to celebrate how good we looked together and how good it felt to be honored for our collaborative vision and effort. We arrived at the restaurant to discover that it was a black owned, more icing on the cake, and a perfect place to land and wrap up the evening with great food, a beautiful atmosphere, and jamming music. Camaraderie, laughter, and joy filled us up.

 

From St. Louis, MO to Charlotte, NC – a snapshot from Lisa Potts, WeCollab Steering Committee Member

Everything about our trip to Charlotte was inspiring as I considered what the West End and St. Louis can be. From the moment I stepped off the plane I felt I was on an adventure. I immediately began comparing what I was seeing and experiencing to home.  It made me think about who were the leaders in Charlotte?  Were any residents at the table for the decisions that were made here? 

As we walked through the airport, I remember being so proud of why we were there.  We told everyone we met that we were there to receive an award for our neighborhood planning work. The evening of the awards we stood out because we had one of the biggest groups in attendance, we were so happy to be together for this honor, and we were all dressed so formally. People seemed genuinely impressed by our accomplishment, for some folks you could tell it was a new idea, residents leading a planning effort.

I loved that they had an African American Cultural Museum in the heart of their downtown.  Their streets were clean and pedestrian friendly.  The place I was most impressed by was the park in the middle of downtown – it had beautiful art and sculptures representing several cultures. The lights, signage, benches, and flowers added to the beauty of the environment.  It was surrounded by restaurants that reflected the different cultures of their community. It felt safe, inviting, and there was something for everyone. I saw a man praying or in deep thought near a waterfall. Others were sitting on a bench reading or engaged in conversation. I was walking around in awe and taking photos like a true tourist.  

I kept pointing out different things that excited me, sensing that level of thoughtfulness and intention and how we could absolutely have these amenities in the West End. I was glad that I had witnessed these beautiful surroundings among my neighbors, friends, and partners from home because we could all go back to our neighborhood in St. Louis and continue to dream and plan. We have all seen what is possible. Now my dream is to take a cohort of additional West End neighbors and stakeholders to visit Charlotte or similar places so we can dream in real time and plan for the future of the West End.

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Invest STL Plans for the Future

Invest STL Plans for the Future

by | Jul 19, 2022 | Uncategorized

“We are grappling with, ‘How do we plan for the future of our neighborhood and its economic prosperity, and its continued call for diversity and racial equity?’ At the same time as we’re doing this, how do we prevent things like displacement from happening?”

Treena Thompson is a resident of the West End neighborhood and board member of Cornerstone Corporation. She voices concerns that resonate with many residents in her neighborhood and neighborhoods throughout St. Louis. We grapple with these same concerns at Invest STL and walk with our partners to support them designing solutions, achieving their goals, and reaching their vision.

Partners like Cornerstone STL and Dutchtown South Community Corporation are working to increase access to affordable and quality housing, medical care for residents, ridership for public transit in neighborhoods and more. And, they’re doing things a little bit differently: they’re putting residents at the center of the community development process.

To learn more about Invest STL’s approach, who we are, and to hear more from our team and partners, dive into St. Louis Magazine’s Big Think story on us, click here.

Invest STL – Reflections On 2020

by | Jul 12, 2021 | Uncategorized

Invest STL takes a moment to pause, breathe and reflect on the year that was 2020. We are growing steadily, both internally as an organization and through our impact in St. Louis neighborhoods. Getting to know and grow our relationships with community partners and neighborhood leaders are key to how Invest STL is showing up. Download the Reflections On 2020.pdf to get the whole story.

Invest-STL-Reflections-On-2020.pdf

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Neighborhood Reflections On 2020, O’Fallon — Growing and Developing Community on West Florissant

by | May 10, 2021 | Uncategorized

This spring Invest STL is taking time to lift up voices, stories and neighborhoods to help us reflect on 2020 and celebrate some of our brighter moments of connection and impact in St. Louis neighborhoods. We sat down with some of our partners to look at their highly collaborative and responsive work spawned by the newly created Neighborhood Solidarity Fund and the urgent needs 2020 amplified in the community. Each Monday, over the next few weeks we will introduce a neighborhood leader to share perspective on what 2020 looked like in their neighborhood and how they were able to remain hopeful in the face of challenging times.

Karen Greer, a Small Business Lift investee is the owner of Angels Within CDS Home Health Care, LLC. Karen is working out of the 21st Ward in North City, St. Louis, which is also in an Opportunity Zone. It is a challenging place to own a business, but Karen sees a lot of potential and she is expanding her footprint as a result. Despite the nature of 2020 and how the pandemic affected her, Karen has a deep commitment and drive to be a positive force in the O’Fallon neighborhood.

During the rise of the pandemic she used her business, resources, and connections to supply clients, staff, and the community with critical PPE. For Karen the value goes beyond the immediate health and safety support her organization provided — there is a bond in giving and receiving,

“The benefit was that we got more trust from people. To know that they had support, a resource, that the door was open. It’s building growth, it’s social growth and it’s a resource, so they know exactly where to go.”

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND GET THE WHOLE CONVERSATION WITH KAREN

“The people pulling together! I mean, just the connectivity, you know, when there is a cry for help, I’ve seen a lot of people come together.”

— Karen Greer
The following conversation took place over Zoom in mid-February of 2021, between Michael Pagano and Karen Greer, who is a business owner and community developer in the O’Fallon neighborhood. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

Michael:

Thanks again for spending some time with me today. As you know, Invest STL is connecting with neighborhood partners and community leaders to join us in reflecting on 2020 and part of our emerging philosophy is really to step back and listen to our community partners and help amplify and lift up the good work and experiences that you have had and the work that you are doing. We also wanted to broaden the focus a little bit and really highlight your human experience throughout the year that 2020 was.

Whether you were able to adapt and really thrive, or if maintaining and surviving was the way that we can view success as well. I’d like to start with some of the basics, if you could introduce yourself and share your organization and which neighborhood you are in.

Karen:

Hi, I’m Karen Greer, and the name of my agency, it’s a home health care agency, is Angels Within CDS Home Health Care, LLC and we are working out of the 21st Ward in North City, St. Louis, which is also an Opportunity Zone. I also want to mention that I am a Neighborhood Leadership Fellowship with UMSL, the 2020 cohort. They guided and helped me grow in my community involvement. I am so thankful for that experience.

Michael:

That’s super. Tell me a little bit about your organization and the work you do.

Karen:

Right now, I’m a home healthcare agency. We are like the middle person between Medicaid and the client. They are considered either the client or the employer, they hire who they want to work in their home. We oversee that operation, making sure the employees are properly background checked and qualified to work for that client and receive state benefits from that. So we make sure that those background checks are done on a quarterly or monthly basis. We make sure that the client is getting the care that they need at their home by doing monthly checks. Making sure during this COVID time that they are receiving PPE that we are getting from the state. I am helping supply my clients and my staff as well as community. We make bags to distribute to those who are homeless and walking the streets, anyone we see we will give supplies. It is much needed in this community. The 63115 zip code was a hard hit for the underserved people in the community. We distribute those PPE supplies as much as needed. We make calls and coordinate drop offs and pickups.

Michael:

And that distribution work, you do it yourself and your staff as well? Is that kind of an all hands on deck situation?

Karen:

Yeah, pretty much. Yes. So we do it as much as needed. We are even making calls to people, if they needed anything, I was doing drop offs and having their employees come by for pick up as well. So it worked out pretty well.

Michael:

Tell me about your NSF Small Business Lift grant concept and how you were able to gain support for your business through that?

Karen:

With the grant support we were able to bring in another person temporarily to help manage clerical work, cleaning, coordinating and preparing PPE distribution. We did get some more computers in order to support that staff work and used the funds to support that COVID-19 preparation effort.

Michael:

Can you speak to the broader impact on the community that all of this effort had? The way that the community was able to benefit by your ability to maintain and grow that capacity during such a hard time.

Karen:

The benefit was that we got more trust from people. To know that they had support, a resource, that the door was open, and they shared the resource, so anybody that needed masks, instead of going to pay for them, they were able to get them for free. As well as a spinoff of doing a toy drive around the holidays. It’s building growth, it’s social growth and it’s a resource, so they know exactly where to go. 

Michael:

That’s excellent. That’s just the type of insight that we want to lift up and highlight and share. I think a lot of the work that we are doing to improve our communities, that trust is a foundational piece of that. And anywhere that we are able to put our actions behind our words, I think that’s a big piece of how trust either gets built or repaired in different cases. So I appreciate hearing that.

Karen:

There were a lot of collaborations and bonds that were formed through sharing these resources and knowing that in this time of need everyone was pulling together. We had a lot of the smaller organizations that I was able to learn about. Because I don’t live there, in O’Fallon. I am a business owner, doing a big development now in that community. I am learning to connect and collaborate with these other organizations and be a resource to them as well. 

There was an organization giving out school supplies at the YWCA, and the YWCA was another partnership where I collaborated with the 77th State District Rep. Kimberly Ann Collins, she did the first toy drive there, I assisted with that as well as provided some of the supplies that I had. It was really fun that we were able to collaborate and give the kids gifts during that time. That is how I ended up doing my toy drive, to use the surplus. We wanted to make sure that the kids in the community were happy during this time. I also met people like Pastor Rebecca Smith, who  does a lot of work with the homeless, I met here through the school supply drive as well.

Michael:

Those all sound like wonderful ways to serve and connect and grow in the neighborhood, in the community that you are with as a business owner and developer. What inspired you the most throughout the process? Can you take a second to step back? Is there an anecdote that kind of sums of that inspirational quality?

Karen:

The people pulling together! I mean, just the connectivity, you know, when there is a cry for help, I’ve seen a lot of people come together even though there are some differences, we all have that common goal to make sure that everybody in the community is okay or to check on people to make sure their needs are met. So I think that pulling together is it. And seeing that the kids are benefiting, that’s the joy, so they won’t get “crowded” with all this pandemic.

Michael:

Seeing the kids benefit really does bring you joy. I can see that. As a business owner, it has got to have been a very dynamic and tumultuous year full of a lot of stress and unknowns, but where were you able to find hope throughout this last year?

Karen:

That was hard. Just keep pushing through, I pray. Thank God that I wake up everyday, to have the strength to do it again. To help somebody else because it could be me. So as long as I have breath I am going to keep doing it everyday.

To look and see so many people around me that are affected by this pandemic and whether it’s the pandemic or mental illness, a lot of people just can’t handle it. It’s a tear breaker. For me, I have clients who are going through it as well and I have to give them some comfort as well, so I have to be strong even though I had COVID. Mine was not severe, but the scare of it, that it could be. So I know that feeling of knowing that someone will actually be there for you. 

Michael:

That support is essential. I’ve just got one more question for you here before we wrap up. Were there any surprises or unexpected challenges you faced as a business owner?

Karen:

Growth in real estate. During my journey as a business owner I experienced bankruptcy, hardship, especially as a single parent, a single mom, and I’m still a single mom of two. I have struggled being a business owner in a low income area, where it’s divided, but I work to overcome that and still have a vision to help the community, beautify it, bring in resources, and whatever help that I can.

I obtained one city lot from the LRA before COVID hit and then right as COVID was hitting, I closed on the second lot, which gave me 6 out of the 10 lots on the block. I already had my agency there and another lot there. Fortunately, I closed on the last building on that block, so now I own 8 out of 10 lots on that block. So that’s pretty much 90% of that block. So now I’m developing that for the community to turn those lots into a farmers market where any of the local residents that are growing their own food, the urban growers, when they have a surplus of food that they want to sell, and they want to make a living by selling that produce, they can do it right there on that lot. So they would have first opportunity to lease space and then we would fill that space with outside vendors to serve fresh fruits and vegetables and what not. It’s to give them an opportunity to earn some money in that space. And then with the building, that community doesn’t have any office space. It’s a two story building, on the top two-thirds is going to be leased office-shared space, and one apartment.

On the lower level, is going to be a banquet hall because two blocks over, right before you get to the now historic O’Fallon Park there is a growing community of residents and soon to be a variety of businesses. So there is plenty of space to host and hold events. On that last corner of the building is going to be a soul food restaurant that is going to serve healthy food as well as the fresh produce that is coming right off that lot. It gives the community a boost of economic resources, bringing more people into the community, bringing people together in one location to socialize and have a bond. Start building bonds, start building trust with each other and then be able to network and grow out of that. 

Michael:

That’s excellent. Can you just refresh my memory? The block you are talking about is on West Florissant?

Karen:

Yes, 4108 West Florissant Ave. And actually a week ago I just found out that 81 Million Development is in the O’Fallon neighborhood. It’s 10 blocks that they are going to be redeveloping and I’m right there in that area.

Michael:

Fantastic. It sounds like you are in a really good position and showing quite a bit of leadership as well.

Karen:

It was all unexpected, so that’s the good thing about this growth out of a bad situation. 

Michael:

Karen, thank you so much for your time today and sharing your story with us. I look forward to keeping the conversation going. I’d like to check back in with you down the road and hear about the developments and how things are progressing as you continue to nurture the block.

Karen:

Yes! I’m excited and I’m energized. That’s another thing that gets me up and keeps me up.

I’m ready to see the community shine.