Action St. Louis Awarded Deaconess Grant for Tenant Organizing
Date Posted: December 20, 2019
Posted In: Organizations,
From The St. Louis American: Action St. Louis is the Deaconess Foundation’s Reverend Buck Jones Memorial Grant for Tenant Organizing partner, Rev. Starsky Wilson, president and CEO of Deaconess Foundation, announced on Monday, December 9 at the foundation’s Just for Kids Community Conversation.
The $40,000 grant will go to support tenant engagement and organizing of Clinton-Peabody Housing Complex residents.
“Out of deep respect for the self-determination of residents, tenants of the Clinton-Peabody community participated in the selection process for partners in this work,” Rev. Wilson said.
The grant is partially funded from the settlement of a suit filed by Missouri’s attorney general against the St. Louis Housing Authority and McCormack Baron Salazar at the call of residents from Clinton-Peabody, with an additional contribution from Deaconess Foundation.
“As a result of this award, the Action St. Louis team will convene, train, and support the development of an action plan chosen by the Clinton-Peabody residents in self-organizing toward their desired goals,” Rev. Wilson said.
“Additionally, residents will participate in a People’s Assembly where tenants will form working groups to identify goals to be included an action plan. Once the action plan has been developed, Action St. Louis will provide research on the issues, implement organizing training, support ongoing tenant turnout and communications, and seek out partner organizations for ongoing social services for residents.”
Residents have already started brainstorming with Action St. Louis staff on kick off opportunities to launch the partnership in the coming weeks.