Botanical Heights residents will be doing a neighborhood clean-up on Saturday, February 4 starting at 9 a.m. for an hour. You’d be surprised with what a huge difference it makes! Meet at the Thurman underpass (Thurman and Lafayette).

the interior of the new City Garden Montessori school, to be completed by Fall 2012

Come see City Garden kids in action at their biweekly open houses this Spring! City Garden Montessori School, a top-performing charter school currently located in Shaw, will be relocating to the Botanical Heights neighborhood at Tower Grove and McRee. The school is free (pending acceptance) and accepts students within the 63110 zip code only, which includes 17th Ward neighborhoods Forest Park Southeast, Botanical Heights, and Kings Oak.

Visit any time between 9-11 a.m. on their open house dates to tour classrooms, hear more about our upcoming plans, and visit with staff and administrators.

Stop by the sign-in table for coffee and delicious pastries.

Upcoming Open House Dates are below, click to RSVP:

• Friday, Feb 3rd
• Friday, Feb 17th
• Friday, March 2nd
• Friday, March 16th
• Friday, March 30th
• Friday, April 13th
• Friday, April 27th
• Friday, May 11th
• Friday, May 25th

City Garden Montessori is currently located at 2109 S. Spring.

produce available at Save a Lot in Pagedale, made possible through an IFF loan for healthy food access

IFF is a nonprofit community development financial institution committed to strengthening nonprofits and their communities through affordable financing, real estate consulting, research, and public policy. Their program provides opportunity for innovative neighborhood projects to increase healthy food access for the community.

In the past seven years, IFF has lent $7.3 million to healthy food providers. Healthy Food borrowers include Beyond Housing, a nonprofit located in Forest Park Southeast. Beyond Housing received $1.2 milion loan to build a Save-a-lot grocery store in Pagedale, previously a “food desert” of St. Louis. The store opened in August 2010 and is the first new grocery store of that neighborhood in over 40 years. The development is an anchor for a community plan which includes housing, economic development, and job creation.

IFF loans include fixed low rates, terms from 5 to 15 years, financing for up to 95% of project coasts, no added fees, and no prepayment penalties.

For more information or to discuss a project with IFF, please contact them at 866-629-0060 or general@iff.org.

Attention neighborhood leaders: UMSL will be hosting its annual Neighborhood Leadership Program this Spring.

The University of Missouri–St. Louis created the program in 2002 as part of its outreach to the St. Louis community. The program connects resources at the university – the Community Partnership Project, the Nonprofit Management and Leadership Program, and University Extension – to residents and neighborhoods interested in creating more livable communities.

Each year the NLA brings together a diverse group of up to 20 current or potential neighborhood leaders for 10 sessions over a four-month period in a hands-on leadership training program that emphasizes community building principles, organizational leadership and management practices, and personal leadership skills.

Participants are actively involved in their neighborhoods and represent communities from throughout the St. Louis region. Academy participants may be municipal elected officials, neighborhood association members, community-based organization staff, or resident volunteers. Many have never had any formal training for the community work that they are trying to accomplish.

Through the Academy, each participant completes a personal leadership development plan, designs a community-building project for their neighborhood, and makes a presentation about their work to their classmates. Discussion and feedback among participants enrich the learning experience for each participant.

During and after the Academy, participants learn about and pursue community-building resources and relationships for their neighborhoods. The NLA staff provides ongoing technical assistance for community projects and opportunities for continued networking and connecting to resources.

Because of the NLA, neighborhood leaders throughout the St. Louis region are learning the skills and building networks for creating livable communities.

Participants who successfully complete the program receive a Certificate in Neighborhood Leadership from the Chancellor of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. A total of 3.65 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are also awarded to participants.

More than 170 neighborhood leaders from throughout the St. Louis region have participated in the NLA, learning the skills and building the networks necessary to create livable communities.

The Neighborhood Leadership Academy is designed for potential or current neighborhood or community leaders, as well as public sector or community based organization staff. The program is also open to students interested in exploring community development careers.

During the academy, participants share and work on a community improvement project for their neighborhood. Following is a sample of their projects:

• Forming a neighborhood association to encourage more community involvement
• Proposing and implementing a community garden
• Developing a church-based community assets assessment
• Planning and obtaining funding for a neighborhood park
• Raising funds to endow a school-based youth cultural enrichment program

Fee

• $400 per person, which includes all instruction, snacks at evening sessions, continental breakfast at Saturday sessions, and parking. A limited number of partial scholarships are available by need.

Registration Options

You have four ways to register. Choose the one that’s most convenient for you.

• Online: Register online for the Neighborhood Leadership Academy with your Visa, MasterCard, or Discover credit card.
• By Mail: Download a Neighborhood Leadership Academy Registration Form. Mail completed form to address indicated.
• By Fax: Download a Neighborhood Leadership Academy Registration Form. Fax completed form to (314) 516-6414.
• By Phone: Call Jennifer Clemente at (314) 516-5994.

• 10 Sessions
• Select Tuesdays & Saturdays
  • Tuesdays, 6:00 p.m.–9:30 p.m. (snacks provided at 5:30 p.m.)
  • Saturdays, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. (breakfast at 8:45 a.m.)

Most sessions are held at the J.C. Penney Conference Center (Room 121) at UMSL (Building #2 on the North Campus Map). Some are held at community sites to enhance participants’ learning.

Neighborhood Leadership Academy 2012 Schedule

• Tuesday, February 14: Opening Session
• Saturday, February 18: Retreat – Community Building Principles
• Tuesday, February 28: Project Planning & Understanding St. Louis
  
• Tuesday, March 13: Leadership Practices
• Saturday, March 31: Community Toolkit #1 – off campus
• Tuesday, April 10: Community Toolkit #2
• Saturday, April 14: Neighborhood Tour & Understanding Power – off campus
• Tuesday, April 24: Resource Development
  
• Tuesday, May 8: Conflict Resolution & Working in Diverse Communities
  
• Tuesday, May 22: Graduation

Registration Deadline:  February 8, 2012

A new photo exhibit entitled “Photography Project: City Greens Produce” is up at Midtown Catholic Charities (1202 S. Boyle) highlighting its initiatives regarding food justice and healthy communities in Forest Park Southeast. The exhibit will be up between January 17 and March 4. The exhibit focuses on City Greens Produce, a unique solution to the common St. Louis “food desert” which  works to provide access to fresh, quality, healthy produce and promote healthy living in its surrounding community through an affordable community market and garden.

The photography project was made possible by UMSL’s Public Policy Research Center. Project participants included a diverse group ranging from 15 to 67, including the director of Midtown Catholic Charities, gardeners, neighborhood volunteers, and their children and grandchildren.

The photos documented City Greens Produce, a community market that functions out of the Midtown Catholic Charities basement and is open weekly on Thursdays (and Fridays in summer months), as well as the City Greens community garden, the Supa Fresh Veggie Mobile (the City Greens mobile market that hit the streets in late 2011) and of course, the produce itself and the people who make it all happen.

Community Builders Network of Metropolitan St. Louis (CBN) is a network of non-profit community development corporations looking to grow the sector in the St. Louis Region by increasing the capacity of organizations and developing a more supportive community development system.  By fostering strong community development nonprofits, CBN aims to create great neighborhoods across the St. Louis region with diverse housing stocks, access to good jobs, transportation options (including walking and biking), successful schools, sustainable energy practices, vibrant public spaces, and strong civic participation.   The network is currently focused on increasing individual organization capacity, engaging the community development support system including, government, foundations, banks and corporations;  providing the sector a collective voice in public dialogue and raising the profile of community development in the St. Louis Region.

On September 29, the founding meeting of the Community Builders Network of Metropolitan St. Louis took place at ONSLRG’s gallery, with a convening of executive directors from community development corporations and key partners from throughout the St. Louis area.  CBN is represented by 35 Community Development Corporations across the St. Louis region, including Park Central Development.  The Network has formed three working committees to address the needs and issues faced by the community development sector. The committees and co-chairs include an Executive Committee,  Organizational Capacity Committee and a Civic Capacity Committee.

Choices Federal Credit Union, Forest Park Southeast’s very own credit union, recently launched a microenterprise program in collaboration with St. Louis Community Credit Union, specifically geared towards the Forest Park Southeast community.

The $ details:

Thanks to a $15,000 grant from St. Cronan Housing Corporation, Choices Federal Credit Union will be able to provide $5000 in equity and $10,000 in loan loss reserve to leverage $100,000 in microenterprise loans for Forest Park Southeast businesses.

Choices is targeting smaller loans under $7,500 but can make larger loans if the right borrower comes along.  Each time Choices closes a loan, St. Louis Community Credit Union will purchase a 90% participation in the loan, leveraging the $10,000 from St. Cronan Housing Corporation with an additional $90,000 for a total initial capitalization of $100,000. This amount will grow as loans are repaid.

Why is Choices different from a normal bank? Banks are reluctant to make business loans for less than $25,000 because of the high risk and low return on these smaller loans.  However, Choices sees this new product as an opportunity to support micro-business owners in the Forest Park Southeast and the Grove, and throughout St. Louis City.  The financing is available to both for profit and not-for-profit companies.

Choices also pairs borrowers with education. Borrowers are required to complete a small business development program offered by collaborative partners, including Grace Hill’s Women’s Business Center, St. Patrick’s Center, Skandalaris Center, and St. Louis Business Resource Center, and more partners are on the way.  The staff at these organizations assist the entrepreneur in completing his or her business plan and financial projections, and in understanding all of the ins and outs of owning and operating a small business.

Choices currently collaborates with two Forest Park Southeast organizations: Forest Park Southeast Community Development Corporation and Mission. St. Louis. Choices has a payday alternative loan product with Mission: St. Louis.  Mission: St. Louis refers clients they are working with to the credit union as part of their overall plan to assist the client in getting better control of their finances, while Mission: St. Louis guarantees the loans.

This is only the beginning; Choices hopes to be able to expand the microenterprise loan product in the future with the help of Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation and the Grove Community Improvement District.

For more information, visit Choices at 4471 Arco Avenue in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood,  open Tuesday and Thursday from 4 p.m. to  7 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon or call 314-535-9000 during their business hours.

HealthStreet (4306 Manchester) will be giving out free flu shots on Tuesday, February 7 from 4 to 6 p.m. Appointments are recommended, though walk-ins are welcome. Call 314-531-3034 for an appointment.

For more information, click here.

[insert name here] Theatre Company is coming to the LGBT Center in the Grove this month with Avenue Q, a hilarious musical about a recent college grad discovering himself in New York (thanks to colorful personalities that live nearby) with no other than puppets. The theater company, which formed in 2008 but has been on haitus for the last year, is back in action with this production. Previously performing out of Tower Grove Abbey Theater and Stray Dog Theater, the latest production will add extra variety in Grove arts and entertainment this month. Shows will take place until January 28.

INH Theatre Company is a nonprofit organization aimed towards strengthening the arts community in St. Louis. The group is unique in its approach to performance and audience input; in the light of the 2012 elections, it is launching a “You decide” campaign in which the public can submit shows for the theater group’s 2012-13 season. “The power is in their hands,” INH President Chris Owen said. “No show is too big or too small.” The shows for the next season will be announced at the final performance of Avenue Q on January 28.

Why the Grove and the LGBT Center? Chris Owens explained he and the INH Theatre Company members frequent the Grove regularly.  After finding out the LGBT Center had moved to the Grove, Owens viewed the LGBT Center space and found it to be a good fit for their performance space and a good opportunity for the group perform in the Grove. Owens noted the theater group enjoys the surrounding neighborhood. “It’s our style and where we like to hang out. It’s a welcoming area and neighborhood.”

Don’t expect this to be the last theater performance at the LGBT Center. Though this will be the first full-fledged production to take place at the space, the center has transformed to a venue for previous events, including American Beauty Talent Show and one act plays, and according to Executive Director Leon Braxton, the Center is looking to expand its arts program by incorporating more live performance, paintings, and sculptures in its space. The Center is already looking into hosting future performances and showcases as well as incorporating more arts and education programming.  And of course, there’s always the potential that INH Theater will come back with another production in the next theater season.

As for further performing arts in the Grove, Owens agreed that he would like to see more theater, which complements well with the existing entertainment along Manchester. As for what business he’d like to see move in the Grove, Owens chose “Film house, like the Moolah Theater. The Grove already has a bookstore, and plenty of restaurants and bars. More recreational spaces would be great.”’

If interested in attending one of the upcoming Avenue Q shows, reserve your tickets now; each of the 6 shows fits 100 audience members Owens anticipates that all shows will be sold out. This Saturday’s show is already sold out.

Community garden workday in FPSE

A new community garden is in the works for the intersection of Newstead and Gibson in Forest Park Southeast. Carole Anne von Eschen,  Forest Park Southeast resident of 35 years and President of Gibson Heights Neighborhood Association, is heading up the effort of converting this vacant corner lot to a community garden and maybe some day a dog park.

On Martin Luther King Day, January 16, 2012, a group of University of Missouri in St. Louis students participated in building several beds, mulching, and hauling dirt at the community garden space. Burlap coffee bags from local roaster Thomas Coffee Company were donated to the project for mulching purposes.

According to Von Eschen, the community garden is open to any resident. No decisions have been made regarding how beds will be distributed or what membership entails, but she predicts that primarily herbs will be grown in this garden.

Besides UMSL volunteers, the community garden has also received help from local Forest Park Southeast organization Mission: St. Louis in December 2011.

Carole Anne Von Eschen expressed the importance of utilizing vacant space for a common good, including both beautification and community space. The lot has been vacant for several years.

This garden is another example of the continuous growth of community gardens in the Forest Park Southeast community.

For more information, contact Carole Anne at gibsonheights@gmail.com.

neighborhood residents Carole Anne von Eschen and Sterling Silvers delegate tasks at garden

Tired but happy, volunteers pose for a photo after a work day