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This section describes the efforts we made to build a peaceful community; including, the people we served and the programs we developed. It also explains how relationships formed and grew to create lasting impact in families and neighborhoods.

Take life as you find it,

But don’t leave it that way

Thomas Fuller

In 1982, Catholic Charities of St. Louis began to explore a new way of reaching people in the St. Louis community. By this time, white flight from the city had slowed and those “left behind” tended to be poorer, African American and non-Catholic. The priest who spearheaded this idea had heard from other priests in city neighborhoods. They told him they were overwhelmed by the number of people knocking on their doors for help.

Since many city neighborhoods had been affected by the movement of white, middle class families into the suburbs, the people who remained struggled to keep their church communities together and at the same time help others. Many of the churches did not have groups in place to run food pantries, do home visits, help with bills and provide support. The church members were also not ready to invite their neighbors into their congregations.

OUR STORY

The MIDTOWN story was that it formed because a priest from Catholic Charities knew pastors in three mid-city/south parishes. He assured them if they helped him open an “outreach” center in their parishes, they would have fewer people knocking on their doors, and if they did knock, the pastors would have a place to send them. This was a personal benefit they could not ignore.

MIDTOWN was the first outreach center of Catholic Charities of St. Louis, but two others soon followed, one in south city and one far north. Aptly named, our site was in the middle of the other two. Later two sites were established in rural Missouri. Another site was opened in St. Charles, Missouri, although it had the highest per capita income in the region and few low-income residents. The outreach centers were organized under the name—Catholic Community Services. They were designed to bring Catholic Charities services to non-traditional recipients.

Over time, changes in population left the city of St. Louis with less than 400,000 residents. Of these residents more than 30% were low income. The racial make-up of the city was approximately 43% white and 47% African American. The remainder of the city’s population was a mix of Vietnamese and Central/South American immigrants. MIDTOWN was established to primarily help with emergency assistance for rent and utilities in eight city neighborhoods within the three parish boundaries.

The original “office” was a storefront in the middle of the three parishes’ neighborhoods. From this site people received financial assistance, some food and miscellaneous donations from church members. In the late 1980’s, the office moved into an old Catholic grade school building owned by St. Cronan Church. The building had housed an elementary school for students from Kindergarten through 5^thgrade. It closed as a school in the mid-1970’s and had begun to deteriorate due to lack of use.

I learned much later Catholic Charities was preparing to close Midtown at the end of 1989. The two staff were seldom in the office and the answering machine was the only voice people heard. I started at Midtown January 1, 1990. At that time, the office was on the second floor of the school building. The back doors on the first floor were chained and locked, rooms were filled with trash and junk and my overall feeling was frustration. How long could I live with this mess? When people came, they would buzz the front doors on the first floor and I would go down from the second floor to let them in.

Hardly anyone came to the door because the people in the neighborhoods were not aware of what was happening at the site. Two staff members joined me in a month or so—a nurse and an older gentleman. He could not find a job, so he asked his pastor to put in a good word for him at Catholic Charities, and he was assigned to MIDTOWN. Together we began to engage our neighbors by asking what they would like to see happen.

Early on a young person volunteered. He was interested in becoming a missionary, but he was looking for something to do to help others until he decided on his future. He came weekly and helped me clean up and organize the office, answer the phone, do home visits and most importantly, throw out the trash. He and I spent weeks working together and every day he came we threw out a dumpster-load of trash from the second floor. He was the first of many volunteers who would help. He set the bar high because he was willing to help with whatever we needed.

As we were cleaning and throwing things away, I discovered a strange room. A second-floor room was filled with tables full of used clothing. A woman from the community came weekly and sat and waited for people to come and find clothing. No one ever came, but she took home a few items each week. I called the tables of clothing—an archeological dig. A person could go through layers of clothing from 1990 back to the 70’s. All of the clothing had been in the room, nearly untouched, for a long time.

Within two months of my start, I was notified by my boss at Catholic Charities that through the generosity of an anonymous donor, we would receive $125,000 to renovate the old school building. An answer to my prayers! We would have an opportunity to make the building welcoming to the community. The donation had one string attached—we would have to provide programs and services to children.

Another prayer answered! At the time I received the information about the donation, I was asking adults what they wanted us to do in their community. The vast majority answered—provide opportunities for children and teens. What a blessing to receive a donation to do exactly what the community wanted! Joyce was hired in May of 1990 to lead youth and group services, becoming our fourth staff person. In June of 1990 the first Summer Academy Day Camp inaugurated youth programs.

Between March and May, we renovated the old school building. Our office was moved to the first floor, closer to the front door. Air conditioning was added to the building to help facilitate summer youth programs. The back doors were unchained and repaired, windows were replaced, rooms and hallwayswere painted and all the trash was finally gone. The one-time donation provided a new playground which would be used in our youth programs. Other than one at the local public school, this was the only playground in the neighborhood.

Activities for children and adolescents became a successful complement to the family assistance programs already in place. In the early 90’s, by home visiting, staff began to identify health issues affecting children and adults. In response, health programs grew at the rate of one per year addressing asthma, lead poisoning, mental health, diabetes, high blood pressure and addiction. In 1998, we began P.E.O.P.L.E. 1^st, a work readiness program, addressing employment preparation and lifestyle change for neighbors being removed from the welfare system. We survived a fire in the Spring of 2001 and programs returned to a renewed building.

To truly understand our story, it is important to understand the context of our community. Each year we served between two and three thousand families. This meant between five and nine thousand people benefited from our services. In the mid-2000’s this number peaked at 10,000 individuals finding benefit. Home visits, family assistance, and support of families and children continued to be the foundation of our reputation.

The local business community was very supportive. When I started, my boss said I had to visit businesses in the community and tell them what we were trying to accomplish. I thought this would be very difficult and not worth the effort. Around the time I was worrying about this, I read an editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch which said “in order to sustain communities there has to be a partnership between local businesses, churches, social services and families”. This partnership would bring everyone committed to an area of the city together. The article suggested a partnership could be built which would develop relationships between all stakeholders and would strengthen neighborhoods.

Using this editorial as a guide, I began to visit neighborhood businesses with a staff member. Together we felt our way forward with a presentation about what MIDTOWN would represent to the community. We sponsored business luncheons so local companies could come and see where we were. It was necessary for our building to be welcoming to the whole community. Its cleanliness and decor always impressed visitors. Within a very short time, we had commitments from several local businesses.

In urban neighborhoods with large areas in decline, people expect everything to be run-down and dirty. I told staff (particularly the custodians) how important it was for our building and grounds to reflect something different. I said our building had to be welcoming to everyone—clean and well-decorated at all times. Whether it was a neighbor coming to visit or a potential supporter stopping by, the building had to appear as what was possible. In neighborhoods which had the look of decay, outsiders would expect the worst. People who lived there would get used to things the way they were. We had to show both groups of people how things could be different.

One woman’s business contributed $100 a month for 10 years, until she retired and her son took over. Another business’ owners loved golf and wanted to sponsor a golf tournament to benefit MIDTOWN. Their commitment lasted over 10 years and the tournament continued for 22 years. After visiting a business to discuss our efforts, that business owner visited our building. After a short tour and discussion of our work, he wrote a check for $5,000 because he was so impressed by the atmosphere. Many businesses continued their support through financial contributions, helping families at Christmas, donating supplies and services, and becoming members of our board.

OUR NEIGHBORHOODS

Our service area was comprised of eight St. Louis city neighborhoods—a two to three square mile section of mid-city. This area of St. Louis was much more economically and racially integrated than the rest of the city. For a long time, immigrants from all over the world settled in parts of this area. A resettlement agency helped new Americans establish their homes in our service area. In 1990, there were about 25,000 residents in these eight neighborhoods. At that time, 63% of these residents were low income. About 60% of the neighbors were African American. Obviously, this means about 40% of these neighborhoods were both white and middle class. At first, I thought of this as a good thing with lots of possibilities. I would learn I was wrong.

Each neighborhood had a different racial and economic makeup. The Compton Heights neighborhood was the most middle-class area we served. Comprised primarily of white, middle and upper middle-class people, some low-income families found affordable rental housing on its outskirts and were able to move into a stable, safe neighborhood. We served several people with AIDS in this area. People lost their jobs because of the illness. They could not afford their mortgages or utilities. They asked for help as they waited for other types of income to begin.

Forest Park Southeast was the neighborhood where our offices were located. This neighborhood was very strange in terms of its politics. Most people in the area were low income. 60% of the neighborhood was African American. One section of the neighborhood was an area where a number of middle-class white families had settled. They thought of this as “their neighborhood”. Other residents had the same feelings. The differences in race and income created disconnection. This caused the neighborhood to become stagnant in its development.

Washington University Medical Center’s campus was just across Interstate Highway 64 from the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. Washington University was very interested in how the people in this neighborhood affected the safety of the students and personnel on their campus. In the mid-90’s, the campus security office sent a letter to students and employees which warned them about parking. The letter told of safety concerns in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood and warned people not to park in that area. Later, Washington University Medical Redevelopment Corporation was placed in this neighborhood to facilitate changes benefiting the medical school and hospital campus.

The Fox Park neighborhood was on the far eastern end of our service area. It was a stable neighborhood made up of low and moderate income African American families who lived in affordable housing. Some of the housing was subsidized through Section 8, and the local public housing agency. I did a social work practicum in this neighborhood working on business and housing development. Very few buildings were unoccupied and fewer boarded over, in contrast to most of the other neighborhoods. The neighborhood association and Community Development Corporation worked to keep housing affordable.

The Gate District was a neighborhood of ongoing redevelopment. The Section 8 senior and family housing I formerly managed was in this neighborhood. There were moderate income homes, townhouses and condominiums. The neighborhood was filled with vacant lots for 15 years before this new housing was built. On the west end of this neighborhood St. Louis University’s Midtown Medical Redevelopment Corporation was continuing to buy up property to expand the university’s south campus. The demographics were African American people with low, moderate and middle-class incomes. This was a neighborhood where low income residents were displaced to build homes affordable to first time homebuyers. Although I agreed with the need for homes for people with incomes under the median, I did not agree or support the displacement of lower income families to make it happen.

McRee Town was one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city of St. Louis. It had been cut off from its original neighborhood when the interstate highway was built. It was surrounded by industrial parks, railroad tracks, the highway and a redeveloped low/moderate-income area. It was a place of last resort for low income families who might only have to pay the first month’s rent to move there—often no deposit was required. Women fleeing abuse, people evicted from other apartments and families wanting to move where they could afford the low rent came to this neighborhood. Absentee landlords owned most of the property. A management company, located in the Gate District neighborhood, owned a good deal of property. This company tried to create decent, affordable housing for low-income families. However, they were not very good at working with the families who lived in their apartments.

McRee Town had the only gang activity I experienced in our service area. One gang had split into two opposing groups. Sometimes, they would shoot at each other from opposite ends of McRee Ave. We would hear shots during the day time when we were delivering furniture to families. The surrounding neighborhoods blamed all of the crime and other problems in their neighborhoods on the people in McRee Town. Before its redevelopment, teens who came to our programs called it the “Dark Side” because all the street lights were out and the city never replaced them. 98% of the families living in this neighborhood were low-income and African American. Almost all of the families living in McRee Town had nothing to do with the violence and decay in their neighborhood.

The Shaw neighborhood was nearly evenly divided between middle/upper-middle-class white and low- income African American families. The white folks often told people how they lived in a “diverse” neighborhood. Most people did not relate to neighbors who were different. The white people in this area did not like African Americans sitting out on their front porches or washing their cars on the street. The people in Shaw blamed residents of McRee Town for any crime in their neighborhood.

I lived in the Shaw neighborhood for 19 years while I worked at MIDTOWN. I would often see neighbors who came to MIDTOWN walking down the street or on their porches. At Halloween, this neighborhood filled with children from all over mid-city. Parents knew residents could afford to pass out candy and it was safe.

The Southwest Garden neighborhood was just west of Shaw. It bordered the Missouri Botanical Garden on two sides. The fourth side of the neighborhood was a great city park called Tower Grove. This neighborhood was filled with rental housing. Homeowners lived on its north and south sides. Housing was in decent condition, although there were signs some properties were not being maintained by absentee landlords. It was a majority African American neighborhood. Most of the homeowners were white. The small group of middle-class families and their homes were on blocks separated from the low-to-moderate-income renters.

Tiffany was the neighborhood east of McRee Town. It was south of Cardinal Glennon Children’s and St. Louis University hospitals. It was developed responsibly by the Midtown Medical Redevelopment Corporation of St. Louis University. The people living in Tiffany had to move for the development to happen. When it was finished these same people were given first priority to return to new Section 8 housing. There were two and four family flats and larger buildings housing 8 or more families. People in this neighborhood would pay 30% of their income under the section 8 program, while people across the street in McRee Town, paid more than 50% of their income to rent much lower quality housing. Almost all of the residents of Tiffany were low- and moderate-income African Americans.

OUR FINANCES

Because I managed our finances well, income and expenses were almost always in balance. I prepared the budget for the first 20 years I was at the agency. The budget was included as part of our parent organization’s budget, but managed separately. I made certain we had multiple streams of funding. This included many grants from foundations and corporations. Grants were usually for specific programs or services. For example, one foundation provided a grant of $300,000 which allowed staff to evaluate how low-income families cope. We hoped to find evidence of what allowed some families with the same income to seem better off than others. We wanted to prove which issues related to poverty or family dynamics kept this from happening. At a foundation meeting where we were requesting other funding, the foundation Director who had approved the large grant, told the group considering our application, “They always have great outcomes”.

I prepared two mail solicitations per year—for Summer Day Camp scholarships and a Holiday Appeal. The former was dedicated to one of our larger annual programs, Summer Academy Day Camp. The other was an open appeal for support from donors during the holiday season. The Christmas “gifts” had no restriction as to how they could be spent. The scholarships were used to subsidize the cost of day camp for families. There were also several events and fundraisers each year. For more than 20 years an annual golf tournament was sponsored by a neighborhood business and supported by businesses throughout our service area.

Each year, we held a “Trivia” Night at a church outside of the neighborhoods, but supportive of MIDTOWN. Trivia Nights are contests to see who knows the most useless information. Our Trivia Night was called “I Knew That” and each year had over 300 guests in attendance. To help donors, volunteers and supporters be comfortable coming to our building in the inner city, a local gourmet Italian restaurant prepared a Holiday Pasta Dinner. Guests were treated to some of the best Italian food in St. Louis. The dinner was part of an Open House where staff visited with guests about our work and asked guests to make a donation to our programs. Individuals and businesses made donations throughout the year. These were usually unsolicited but sometimes came after visits and/or presentations at local churches or at public organizations. Lastly, we received some monies from CC and the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

This multiple stream of funding helped us through economic highs and lows. Usually during economic lows, donors continued to provide support although a little less than their usual. During the Great Recession, our donors provided enough support; we did not have to make any drastic changes. We continued to search for new sources of funding for our programs as our budget and programming grew. Our budget started at $35,000 in 1990 and when I left in 2016 was nearly a million dollars.

The money which came from Catholic Charities (CC), Catholic Community Services (CCS) and the Archdiocese of St. Louis was always the least of our sources of support. The way in which this support was determined made budgeting difficult. Catholic Charities and Catholic Community Services waited until we had created our budget with all other sources of income. If we had a deficit, this difference would be made up by our parent organization. We never knew how much we would receive until this point. The other outreach sites received the majority of their funding from CCS and the Archdiocese. I did not consider this to be fair as most of our budget came from money we raised outside of the church. However, I determined early on, if we wanted to have the kind of programs and services our neighbors both needed and wanted, we would have to find the money to provide them.

We were usually on budget with income and expenses. Sometimes there were short falls—usually because our parent organization and CC controlled where we could seek funding. When we were free to find funding wherever we could, we had budget surpluses. During a three-year period in the late 2000’s, we had a budget surplus of more than $100,000 one year, $15,000 another and in the third year took on a program and its costs from another outreach site at the request of CC. We were over budget about $15,000 that year, including the costs of the transferred program. In the last five years I was at MIDTOWN we were over budget 3 years. During that time, I was no longer allowed to prepare the budget. The way the budget was determined was changed so income and expenses were hard to track. Because there was a disastrous deficit at Catholic Community Services all five of those years, manipulation of funds by the organization made it difficult to know what was real about income and spending.

MANAGEMENT STYLE

My approach to staff and decision-making had a goal of participatory management. However, I found it difficult to get all our staff on board. Some of the decisions could require staff to do more or different work in addition to what they were already doing. I tried to be open, honest, accountable and friendly. My desk was in our first-floor office, in the back corner of our open setting. It was designed so anyone could stop and talk. Board members, volunteers and neighbors enjoyed my availability. In this open style room, with no cubicles, our neighbors felt more comfortable. I was able to communicate with the staff at any time—helping with ideas, saying thank you for their work and commenting on the success of the St. Louis Cardinalsbaseball team.

We had regular meetings where staff discussed what they were doing, any help they needed and their availability to help other staff with agency-wide activities. Whenever we had a new idea, we discussed it at staff meeting getting input from anyone interested in sharing their thoughts. Sometimes, we would delay things to think about them further. Other times there was near consensus on an idea or program and we began to address it. I tried to be encouraging at staff meeting about the people we served. I reminded staff that people living in poverty always had it harder than we sometimes felt we did.

Staff was paid $26-$30,000 (2005-16) depending on their degree and experience. It was important our salaries were not so far above those we served that we might forget their struggle. I started at $18,000 in 1990 with ten years’ experience and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. I told staff; I made more money than they did because I had been around longer. Staff usually received a raise—from 1-3% as determined for all employees of the Archdiocese. I would use the money available for raises and distribute it based on merit, educational advancement, or because of a special request from a staff person—marriage, newborn or other need. All staff received some form of raise whenever it was available. At the end of my time, with the huge deficits accrued by CCS, there were three years during which no one received a raise.

If a staff person remained for more than 3 years their salary might reach the mid $30’s. If staff took on a new category of job, or management responsibility, their salary would increase because of this. Today, I would not pay anyone less than $15 per hour (a salary of $32.000 per year). This wage is a good starting place for a single adult and would be an example to those we served of a fair pay scale. (Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese did control salaries and benefits for all employees).

Staff committed from 2 to 10 years. Two staff members returned after trying other agencies and stayed for several more years. For many of our staff, this was their first professional job. They would work for two years; learn everything they would need to make more money and move on. I taught social workers, fundraisers, managers and religious. I understood notall staff could continue to live on the wages we paid.

When staff married things changed. A new baby would create a need for more resources. Sometimes even buying a new car was hard. But I told everyone who ever worked at Midtown, there is not enough money in the world to make our job easier and if you love the work and the people, the amount of money probably doesn’t matter. I also felt all of our jobs were equally important, only with different responsibilities. My job was no more (maybe less) important than a group worker leading an after- school group of 5^th graders. I reminded staff of this whenever it seemed necessary.

As Director, people coming to the agency expected me to be in a private office. They thought they would need an appointment to see me, and that the work I did was all administrative. A new pastor from the church came to see me one day in late December. The receptionist told him I was helping deliver Christmas presents to families in the neighborhoods. He was very surprised I was doing this and not in the office managing the staff doing the work.

I felt it was my job to help our staff do their job. I needed to know the people from the community, their children and their needs. I did home visits, ran programs, led activities and when Joyce was pregnant with our daughter, I went back to doing group work with children and teens. I enjoyed our programs and services and was always happy to work with our neighbors because the people were why we did the work.

Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow.

Norman Vincent Peale

OUR NEIGHBORS

The people who came to MIDTOWN lived in severe poverty. 88% of the families lived with incomes under $12,000 a year; less than 50% of the federal guidelines for poverty (2019) which place a family of four at $25,100. This group of Americans in poverty is growing the fastest. All of the families we served had incomes below the poverty level. 98% of the households were African American³.

Most heads of household were women, mothers or grandmothers, but we noticed a trend in more fathers taking care of their children alone. The average family included three people, usually a mother and two children. We also served single seniors and families up to 14 members. Often homelessness was reflected as multiple families living together in one home. Lack of affordable housing, high rates of unemployment, failing schools and poor policing created instability in our neighborhoods.

People often think of the poor as transient—homeless for a while, finding an apartment, getting behind in rent and moving out. Our neighbors were not. We found renters averaged 2 years in apartments which were not always in good condition. Some older homeowners, and families who inherited their homes from parents, had been in the neighborhoods for 7 to 40 years. Many seniors in the neighborhoods had been residents their entire adult lives.

Outsiders view urban neighborhoods as unstable. Our experience was one in which residents knew who could be trusted and where they could find support. Although poverty often causes isolation, we found people who would feed their neighbors children, let someone who lost their home move in with them and generally be Good Samaritans. Next-door neighbors, relatives in the area, churches and community organizations helped break down isolation and gave people places to become acquainted.

“There was a man going along a road who fell prey to robbers who left him half dead. A priest went by seeing him, passed on; so also, a lawyer did likewise.

But then a Samaritan came upon him and was moved to pity.

He cleaned and dressed his wounds and brought him to an inn, paying for his expenses…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

The Good Samaritan

OUR VOLUNTEERS

The new commandments Jesus gave were a fulfillment of those from the Old Testament. To love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself, summarized our beliefs. But loving God can only happen as you love your neighbor. Volunteers who came to help were great examples of the love of neighbor.

I was totally in awe of the effect volunteers had. People had told me volunteers were not dependable, they wanted to do what they wanted, they would be afraid of the neighborhoods (really the people in the neighborhoods) and they would not work well with professional social work staff. How wrong they were! From the first year through my final year, volunteers were a wonderful addition to everything we did. They were consistent and more often than not they wanted to do whatever we needed them to do. Even professionals did not push their experience on us. Most of the volunteers were strangers to an urban setting. However, only one older gentleman who wanted to volunteer did not return because his family was afraid of the neighborhood. Staff and volunteers worked so well together sometimes it was hard to tell who did what.

We had many volunteers. Young people from junior high through college came to do service projects, fulfill school requirements and complete their work to become Eagle Scouts or to receive Girl Scout badges. Retired people answered phones, helped deliver furniture to families and served on our boards. Mothers came to help new moms have fun at baby showers. Business people, professionals, educators and community members served on boards, committees and helped guide programming.

Some volunteers spent a day completing a project, while others spent their lifetimes with us. In 1990, Sylvia and Jeanne came to Midtown as our first volunteer receptionists. Jeanne continued until her untimely death and Sylvia can still be seen on Tuesday mornings. Our advisory board had volunteers who were not time-limited. Tony, Bob, Vince and others started in the 90’s and never stopped their involvement. Many other people joined them on our board and stayed involved for years.

Whenever a volunteer joined and stayed involved, I told them they were so important they could not leave. Since we didn’t pay them, they were even more important! The following article appeared in The NEIGHBOR to let volunteers know how much they were needed and appreciated.

The NEIGHBOR “YOU CAN’T LEAVE UNTIL THE WORK IS DONE!” May 2012

Two Sisters volunteered this year for their novitiate. Sr. Kelly and Sr. Precilla spent Mondays working with staff in the community. Sr. Precilla’s last day was April 30^th. As everyone was saying goodbye, Sr. Precilla was told, “You can’t leave until the work is done.”

Craig and Sue Schoenfelder spent the last year doing service as members of the Ignatian Volunteer Corp (IVC). The IVC allows retired people to use their life and work experience in the community. Craig and Sue have wonderfully connected to Midtown. They finish their year in June and they too were told at staff meeting, “you can’t leave until the work is done.”

Midtown has eight full-time staff. When staff works together, they provide great services and programs. However, we cannot do the work alone. Volunteers have joined in many endeavors over the last 30 years. In 2011, more than 200 people of all ages volunteered in youth programs, job readiness, in City Greens, the community garden and doing much needed work projects.

Some volunteers have become committed to the mission. Jeanne volunteered for 17 years until she passed away. Sylvia has spent more than 20 years greeting neighbors on Tuesdays. Mary and the ladies of Reading Club tutor children every week. Mary and Dot started an effort to help teens prepare for college. Jack has provided pro bono legal advice since 2001. Bob, Mary Alice and Tony organize trivia night and Bob makes the golf tournament a success.

Tony exemplifies volunteering at Midtown. He is on his second round as Midtown’s board chair. He spends Thursdays at the cash register of City Greens Market and comes on Saturdays to help in City Greens garden. Tony has developed the advisory board into a group of hands-on volunteers who are connected to those we serve. Tony and Bob have been involved with Midtown for more than 20 years.

As Midtown celebrates 30 years of service in 2012, we thank all those who have given their time to meeting and helping those we serve. Some may have left, but they are always remembered with much gratitude.

Freedom…is authenticity, truthfulness, fidelity to the pursuit of truth and to truth when found…in its intimately Christian sense, however, freedom has a higher meaning than all this. Freedom in the deepest experience of it is love.

To be free is to be-for-others, an impulse to the service of others.

John Courtney Murray

STUDENTS

I supervised nearly two hundred social work students from St. Louis and Washington Universities, from University of Missouri—St. Louis and Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois. I taught students who were becoming ministers, including church deacons, sisters and lay people. We had younger students from high school nearly every year. Younger students came for weeks to fulfill school requirements. College students spent one or two semesters with us.

The students brought energy, new thoughts and willingness to their work. They were treated as any other staff or volunteers. They learned the same things we were all learning—about poverty and the treatment of African Americans in our society. They worked in City Greens Market and with the women’s groups. They helped people with family assistance and did home visits. They worked with children in after school and teen clubs.

We had students from all over the Midwest who were attending college in St. Louis. The students had varied backgrounds. Early on, a Jewish woman wanted to do her practicum. I asked her if the religious affiliation would matter. I told her it didn’t matter to me. She was kind and generous, did well, and continued to hear about and support the agency throughout her career.

Another student was President of the Gay Student Alliance at St. Louis University. He was interested in our setting. I talked to him about our work and he told me about his experiences. When we talked about him coming to MIDTOWN, I reminded him a primary value in social work was “putting the client first”. I told him he was not doing his practicum with us to promote his work at SLU. I said if anyone asked him about a button he might be wearing, or what he did at SLU, he would be free to answer. He did well in the practicum and there were no issues between him and our neighbors.

Many students came from other countries. One student was a native Formosan. Her people were treated as second class citizens by the Chinese who had come from the mainland and declared the island Taiwan. She came to learn how to serve her fellow Formosans and help her people fight oppression. Another student came from Japan. He was a joy to have as a student. He was very friendly, open and gentle. His English wasn’t the best but I told him people would listen to him and he had to listen carefully to our neighbors. In all, everything went well for him.

My favorite student came from The People’s Republic of China. She was a police officer in her small town. Her work involved teenagers in trouble with the law, visiting them and their families. When she told me, she was a police officer from China, I was concerned. She came to MIDTOWN for her practicum and was open to everything. She proved, by her personality and openness, that her job must have been very different from police in America. She “loved” her experience. Here are some thoughts she wrote to me after she left:

I will always remember my practicum experience at MIDTOWN. MIDTOWN is a place full of care, hope and love. MIDTOWN opened the door for me to understand social work in practice. As time goes on you get more and more of a sense of “mini-collectivism”. …everybody is welcomed. The door is open, the programs are open, the staff respect and cooperate with each other, and clients are respected and get involved in all kinds of activities. The relationship between staff and clients is so active, positive and close.

…from the experience of MIDTOWN, you are learning that for a social worker, the most important thing is not only to apply professional knowledge and skills, but also to work with happiness and hope…everybody’s hard work lets you know that social work might be the most ordinary work but most meaningful in the world.

OUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

I worked long enough to celebrate our 25- and 30-year anniversaries and just missed the 35^th. We grew from a staff of one in 1990 to 14 staff and hundreds of volunteers. Our budget increased from $35,000 to nearly 1 million dollars in 2016. Our programs expanded from youth services and family assistance to programs serving the whole family. Community involvement began as neighbors connected more fully and was evident in City Greens Market, the community garden and Voices of Women Development Corporation. The following article, from The NEIGHBOR, summarizes what we knew by our 25^thanniversary and what we hoped to accomplish in the next 25 years.

The NEIGHBOR 25 YEARS OF SERVING OUR NEIGHBORS February 2007

MIDTOWN has been serving neighborhood families for more than 25 years. After such time, staff has witnessed children in the community growing up healthy and starting their own families. They have rejoiced and cried with families at births and deaths, college graduations, new jobs, new homes and new lives. In the tradition of the settlement house, staff has tried to respond to the needs of our neighbors with creative, timely and cutting-edge approaches to their concerns. As we celebrate 25 years, we look forward too many more with our neighbors. What will the services be and what upcoming issues may affect our neighbors? Here are some possible concerns!

Housing, affordable to families living under the federal poverty guidelines, is not being created to meet current needs. Housing affordable for those at 30% of the median income is quickly being replaced by housing affordable to families at 60% of median or higher. In other words, lower income families would need to at least double their income to afford housing currently being built. Families are being forced out of their neighborhoods by such redevelopment.

Urban schools and education continue to decline, producing generation after generation unable to do basic math and read the newspaper. Lack of jobs will lead to more hopelessness and intergenerational poverty. Churches still do not welcome the poor! The underclass this continues to build will become more permanently outside the mainstream.

MIDTOWN serves its neighbors whatever their concerns. The bottom line is we must continue to meet people where they are and be hopeful. We must seek positive opportunities which are uplifting even as people are more oppressed. This happens only as neighbors meet each other and learn to know and trust. We may then work together to build peaceful communities no matter our race or economic status.