After 50 Years Progress, Future is More Uncertain Than Ever
Date Posted: April 1, 2025
Posted In: Discussion,
by Chris Krehmeyer, President and CEO, Beyond Housing
This year, Beyond Housing is commemorating our 50th year of impact in serving low-income families and under-resourced communities in North St. Louis County.
In what should be cause for celebration and a renewed focus on the future, various culminating factors are forcing us to focus on our short-term survival.
As is often the case, the majority of these forces are economic in nature.
As we saw with the COVID pandemic and the Great Recession in 2008, the poorest in our region are the hardest hit by any crisis. This crisis is no different. Though no one has officially declared it, and the U.S. is not technically in a recession, I can confidently say that what we are currently witnessing and experiencing firsthand in North St. Louis County is indeed a crisis situation.
In nearly 40 years of doing this work, which has included multiple recessions and a global pandemic, I have never seen a more perfect storm than the one we currently face—all in a year that marks our organization’s 50th anniversary.
While the majority of us have felt the sting of inflation to some degree, low-income families like those that Beyond Housing serves have been especially and disproportionally impacted. The majority of these families live at or below the poverty line with little cushion in their budgets. Many families who were once making strides forward in their financial stability are now struggling to pay rent and utilities and cannot afford to buy milk and eggs.
These rising costs also severely impact Beyond Housing’s ability to operate and serve at a time when the need has never been greater. As with most nonprofits, our revenue is down significantly due to the impact of inflation on our donors. At the same time, the cost of doing this work has never been higher. Construction costs are up substantially. The cost of insuring our more than 600 affordable rental homes and other commercial property has nearly tripled.