Urban Connection Jan-May 2024

“THIS

IS THE SINGLE LARGEST ITEM DONATED TO ANY PARTICULAR URBAN LEAGUE [AFFILIATE] IN ITS 114-YEAR HISTORY.” - M I C H A E L P M C M I L L A N

106th

Annual Dinner Meeting

Over 1,000 guests joined us to celebrate our successes in 2023 and see the vision of 2024 This year set a new record for support of the agency

President & CEO Michael P. McMillan and Centene Charitable Foundation at Centene Corporation President Keith Williamson, make the announcement on April 26th, 2024.

Centene Corp. Donates $25M Facility to the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis P A G E 3

George Washington Carver Urban Farming Project Grand Opening

The Urban League opened it’s first ever Greenhouse and Hydroponic Farm on April 30th at our Regional Headquarters

FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO Welcome...

Dear Urban League Supporter,

2024 is off to a great start. Lots of big and historic events including 4 ribbon cuttings already and more to come this year! It has been a busy year, and we couldn’t possibly include everything we have done, but in this newsletter you will find some of our more notable events and news. Thanks to all of our staff, partners, donors, volunteers and supporters who make these events possible. sincerely,

Michael P. McMillan President & CEO

Centene Corp. Donates $25M Facility to the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis

The 60,000 square foot almost 8.5 acre site will be used for:

Head Start Early Childhood Education

Save Our Sons and Save Our Sisters

Workforce Programs

Job Training

Conference Center

Housing Assistance

Regional Food Distribution Center

Re-Entry Programs

And Other Partners

The Urban League is truly grateful to Centene for the largest contribution in the history of the Urban League and for our decades long partnership. This center represents Centene’s former Chairman and CEO Michael Neidorff’s vision of commitment and investment into the city of Ferguson after the death of Michael Brown We look forward to continuing that vision and serving the people of Ferguson.

A special thanks to Sarah London, Ken Fasola, Keith Williamson, Chris Koster, Joyce Larkin, Shannon Susko, Doug Lowell and many others from Centene who made this project a reality.

Our 106th Annual Dinner set a new record for support of the agency! Over 1,000 guests joined us to celebrate the successes of 2023 and see the vision for 2024 and beyond. We were pleased to honor Keith Williamson of Centene Corporation and Warner Baxter who recently retired as Executive Chairman of Ameren Corporation for their contributions to St. Louis and the nation.

We are extremely grateful to our Title Sponsors - World Wide Technology, the Steward Family Foundation, Centene, Home State Health, Ameren, AnheuserBusch and the William Siedhoff Foundation along with our President’s Sponsors - Edward Jones, Emerson and Dowd Bennett LLP along with every other company, organization and individual that helps us help others! 2023 was a record year for the Urban League and 2024 is shaping up to surpass it!

Greenhouse & Hydroponic Farming Units GRAND OPENING!

Governor Michael Parson, Senator Karla May, and many other local leaders came to celebrate the grand opening of the first ever Urban League greenhouse. This could not have been done without their support.

The George Washington Carver Urban Farming Project is a state-of-the-art, 10,250 square foot, multi-million dollar facility that is already growing food at our regional headquarters in the heart of North St. Louis. Food grown here will be sold to local stores and there will also be some given to the food pantry to distribute healthy food to those in need. In addition to food production, our two dynamic partners; Vested Urban Farms and Fresh Harvest 365 will be offering healthy cooking classes, job training and a residential component for people to buy their own towers to grow food in their own homes.

GRAND GRAND OPENING OPENING

$10 Million Senior Living Center Opens in Dellwood

We are proud to have held the Grand Opening for our new, 44 unit complex that is part of the agency ’ s vision to rebuild the Ferguson/ Dellwood/ West Florissant Corridor. A special thanks to ALL of our partners including St Louis County, MHDC, the Governor’s Office, HUD, EPA, Gardner Capital, Grow America, Centene, Great Southern Bank, Dellwood, the Economic Development Partnership, KAI, McCormack Baron and many others The building is fully leased Every unit has its own washer/ dryer along with a Food Pantry, Computer Center, exercise coach, transportation and partnership with Oasis to provide services to the entire building. Thank you to all of the elected and appointed officials, staff and volunteers that made yesterday a reality! We are looking forward to providing quality housing and resources to our elders who need it the most!

The Urban League of Metropolitan St Louis Head Start/Early Head Start proudly unveiled the Believe Preschool 2 Literacy Lab at the Urban League Head Start Peter H. Bunce Water Tower Center on April 3rd, 2024. This Literacy Lab aims to foster school readiness, instill the joy of reading, and empower children aged 0-5 with over 1,000 books authored by Black, Latinx, and Indigenous writers. This project was made possible by our partnership with St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature, and our other amazi partners like Build-A-Bear Foundation, Metro Theater Company, Ready Readers, and Whittaker Foundation

COMMUNITY HELP DESK OPENS

AT ULSTL HEADQUARTERS

NPower’s Community Help Desk opened at the Urban League of Metropolitan St Louis’ Headquarters. Thanks to the incredible support from AT&T, World Wide Technology, and Zendesk, we are now offering free, fast, and competent tech support to all of metropolitan St Louis.

NPower is proud to provide a FREE Community Helpdesk to cities where the digital divide needs to be filled From assisting students to access online classes, troubleshooting connectivity issues on video calling platforms, and diagnosing Wifi, we are help to help

The NPower Community Helpdesk is committed to providing world-class support for all of your tech issues. We know how difficult it can be to resolve any kind of tech issue, especially when you’re trying to get a hold of a customer service rep or the steps to fix the problem are hard to understand. We have a team of highly trained Digital Navigators that are committed to helping you at every step of the way

Schnucks and Customers Donate $125,000 to Support the Urban League

As part of Black History Month, Schnucks Markets gave customers the chance to Round Up at the Register or Scan & Give $1, $3, or $5. 100 percent of donations in the St. Louis area went to the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Save Our Sons program, and Round Ups in other markets supporting the National Urban League and other affiliates. The campaign ran from February 3rd through February 16th. Special thanks to the Schnucks family for partnering with us on this campaign for the fourth year in a row and for the many decades of partnership.

SISTERS WHO LEAD PANEL

DANIEL

Announced As the New Director of the Save Our Sisters Women’s Empowerment Program

We welcomed Carol Daniel as the new Director of the Save Our Sisters Women’s Empowerment Program during our Sisters Who Lead Panel. Carol is a St. Louis icon and has been working in the news and entertainment industry since 1995. She displayed some of her many skills serving as moderator for the panel. The panel featured Vanessa Cooksey, Nicole Adewale, Aja Williams, and Stacy Gee Hollins.

The honorees were:

MLK Memorial Tribute

St. Louis University and The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis hosted our annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Tribute featuring awards and recognitions, music from the Coleman Hughes Project, and concluded with a fireside chat between Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz and Xernona Clayton.

Ryan Tisdale, Saint Louis University student in the College for Public Health and Social Justice, Dr. Jonathan C. Smith Emergent Student Leader Award

Katrina Moore, Ph D , Saint Louis University associate professor of History and African American Studies, Donald Brennan Humanitarian Award

Charlotte A. Hammond, Challenge Unlimited, Civic Leadership Award

Dr Kendra Holmes, Affinia Healthcare, Civic Leadership Award

William Johnson, J.D., Saint Louis University School of Law Dean, Donald Brennan Humanitarian Award

Allan D Ivie IV, Simmons Bank, Civic Leadership Award

Dennis G. Serrette, National Urban League, Civic Leadership Award

David Steward II, Lion Forge Animation, Civic Leadership Award

Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcolm X and Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, Drum Major for Justice

Ready! Set! Launch! Graduation

The Urban League of Metropolitan is proud to have 63 remarkable people graduate from our Small Business Development course. Thank you to SBA Director Maureen Brinkley, Senator Karla May, CIBC Bank's Kevin Brooks, BMO Harris Bank's Shellcee Sharp, Rosha & Damon Major, Share'e Galvin, LaTonya Jackson, The Deaconess Foundation and all of our dedicated staff and volunteers that made the 10 Week Program and Graduation possible: Tyler Joy, Michael K. Holmes, Cynthia Wilson and many others.

Save Our Sons and Save Our Sisters Expanding to the Cape Girardeau, Southeast Missouri Area

Save Our Sons + Sisters, participated in the “Supporting Workforce Development Programs and Collaborative Partnerships in Southeast Missouri” event in Cape Girardeau, as we begin to expand their services to that area. The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, the FDIC, and the United Way of Southeast Missouri hosted the event where several partners and local organizations were in attendance.

Overall Community Engagement

January Through March 2024

3,345 Residents

11,036 Resources Delivered

7,065 Households Reached

The Division of Public Safety and Community Response, is to reduce cr and violence by connecting neighborh residents with necessary services a viable resources. The vision of the Ur League of Metropolitan- St. Louis’ Div of Public Safety and Community Response is to reduce crime and viole and make neighborhood more livab

This is accomplished by connectin neighborhood residents with necessa services and viable resources, and organizing neighborhood / block lev activities that restore the social fiber o targeted neighborhoods. With a focus “high risk” individuals and families we able to address the growing socia disparities impacting neighborhood

Partnership Partnership Partnership

World champion boxers are joining forces with the Devon Alexander Sports Foundation and The Arthur Johnson Foundation, in partnership with the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, to empower inner-city youth. Quarterly boxing showcases will be held to inspire our kids to lace up their gloves and fight in the ring, not the neighborhood. We held one of these showcases in April that started with a press conference and reflection reception at our regional headquarters, then kids heard from professional athletes during the Life Lessons for Today’s Youth Event at Vashon High School, and concluded with the Amateur Boxing Invitational.

Laptop Distribution at ULSTL Headquarters

ULSTL and AT&T partnered once again and distributed 300 laptops to our clients as part of the AT&T Connected Learning initiative to help address the digital divide.

8 Food Distributions and Giveaways in 2024

With the support of our partners, staff and volunteers, we have been able to provide food and other items to families in need across our region. This is only the start and there are more to come!

We could not do this without your support!