Sarah Barnhart Margaret Bingham Markus Brooks Michael Finochiarro Margaux Fontaine Elizabeth Hall Yiwen Hao Colin Husey Meghan Jendusa Geoffrey King Meghan Johnson Devin Kostrzewksi Miranda Seguera Vaughn Spivey Robert Woltering Joe Andreoni Michael Backer Michael Boyce Patrick Dawson Connor Gandossy Sarah Leach Michael Roach

Toward a Human Justice System

Learning the Other

Understanding their Humanity

Understanding a life ‘in-Risk’

Understanding Challenges of Inequality

Better Family Life: Neighborhood Alliance

Meeting Attendance Outreach Work Interviews Conversations Experiencing the Neighborhoods

Life in North St. Louis – ‘A Foreign Land?’

Outward Appearance

Social Climate

Economic Climate

Through the eyes of a Visitor

In their Own Words

Provide an overview of the North City community from the eyes of students.

Provide view of the community based on participation and engagement within it.

Encourage SLU community to make commitment to engaging and assisting North City by going Elbow to Elbow to make foster change.

63106 63107 63112 63113 63115 63109

Population 10,553 16,313 22,678 16,101 25,238 29,264

Male 4,376 7,482 10,357 7,303 11,201 13,531

Female 6,177 8,831 12,321 8,798 14,037 15,733

Black 94.8 90.4 80.2 97.7 98.1 2.8

White 3.6 7.8 15.8 1.0 0.8 93.6

Percentages do not total 100 other category omitted

St Louis Community

National Comparisons

Median Household Income: 2009

Average family size across ZIP codes: 2.5

Poverty line for family of three: $17,607

Residents with Income Below the Poverty Line in 2009

Number of Businesses

Breakdown of Four Business Areas

Economics around the United States

• City comparisons around the United States• Zip code data in areas of cities comparable to

North Saint Louis• Data from the cities averaged and compared

to local and National statistics• These issues are not only up the street from

SLU, they are also around the entire country.

Population Percentage with High School Diploma

Population Percentage with Bachelor’s Degree

Percentage of Households with Income under $10,000

Median Income

Percentage Below the Poverty Line

Social data & statistics on disadvantaged “at-risk” communities near you

These neighborhoods reveal the reality of urban povertyAre you aware?

THE THIRD WORLD NEAR YOU:THE THIRD WORLD NEAR YOU:THE CHALLENGES OF URBAN AMERICATHE CHALLENGES OF URBAN AMERICA

Several communities within 4-5 miles (10-12 minutes) North of SLU are at “at-risk”

Presentation of social data regarding neighborhoods such as the Ville & Wells-Goodfellow as opposed to neighborhoods like The Hill (ZIP 63019), which is only 7 miles (16 minutes) South of SLU.

One common social indicator for disadvantaged neighborhoods “at-risk” is the % of single-parent households within the community.6310

66310

763112 63113 63115 63019

Single-parent Households

29% 21% 14% 16% 15% 4%

Two sides to every coin (Child/Parent)

Working Multiple Jobs affect the parent as much as the children

Parents experience› Heightened Stress levels› Decreased Overall Health› Depression› Neglect of Children

Parents are sometimes forced to make hard choices and big risks

Another common social indicator for disadvantaged neighborhoods “at-risk” is the lack of new residential development.

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63107

63112

63113

63115 63019

Houses 0-10 years old

14% 2% 9% 5% 3% 1%

Houses 50+ years old

41% 85% 75% 86% 88% 89%

Available housing plays a huge role in community residency

Up kept Community vs. Neglected Community› City has control› Perception of Safety› Expectation of neighbors› REPUTATION

The the most important social indicators for disadvantaged neighborhoods “at-risk” is the education level of its residents.

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63115

63019

Never completed high school

45% 41% 28% 39% 33% 15%

Received a bachelors or higher

4% 7% 22% 8% 9% 32%

Schools neglect themselves› Appearance› Overall lack of Initiative› Involvement

Community Schools are failing the kids that attend› Where does it start?

CRITICAL* › How can we change this downward trend?

11 individuals 8 Males and 3 Females Ranging from 14 to 40 years old

“You’re gonna see people posted up out there, beer bottles everywhere, liquor bottles everywhere, broken cigarellos down, crackheads walking up and down the street. Ya know, you can see people sittin out there with their guns right on their front porch. It’s just how we live.”

“Every corner I hit, house house house, vacant vacant vacant vacant, empty lot, house house house, 20 cats here, 10 guys down here, little kids playing in the street, drug selling right here, drive by shooting.”

“When I walk around my neighborhood, all I see is poverty.”

“We need more resources to invest our time in.”

“Video games aren’t helping. They’re telling us to do the same stuff we’re doing. They need to make better things for kids to see these days.”

“Nobody is getting out here and helping these young guys, talking to these young guys.”

“It’s gonna have to be somebody up higher to stop them, to bring everything back. I guarantee you Saint Louis will change if everything comes back. If we start opening gyms, start opening schools back up, start opening rec centers, Saint Louis will change.”

“These young guys don’t have anything. All the boxing gyms are close, all the rec centers are closed, all the parks. Schools are closed down.”

“Everything is gone. Everything is either county, south, west, north county. There’s nothing in this inner city. All the malls are gone. Where’s the Walmart in the city? Where’s the Target? There’s nothing in the city. Quicktrip won’t even come in the inner city.”

“I feel like I shouldn’t be scared to go anywhere at night time. My mom shouldn’t be like, ‘you have to be home at ten or twelve because they’re gonna start shooting.”

“In my neighborhood there’s certain streets ya can’t walk down if you from there, just from growin up with people you think as a brother..so say if I go on the other side of where I’m from, somebody gonna gun me down just cuz we grew up on different sides.”

“Schools are closing down and they turn around and build a million dollar school, but we can’t go to that school cuz it’s a private school, academy, or something.”

“We need new schools. The schools are about squat; you can’t learn nothing in them schools.”

“Half of the teachers aren’t doin nothing; they’re in there for their paychecks. If there were better teachers, there would be better role models for these kids.”

“I want my little brother to stay in school, keep his motivation in his head and not be worried about the teacher telling him, ‘You won’t learn anything in my class, I’m just worried about getting paid.’ That hurt me so bad when my brother came home and said that, and the teacher straight failed him.”

Either can be the great divide

Or, as wide as a river.

ChorusWade in the water, Wade in the water children.Wade in the waterGod’s gonna trouble the water

Who’s all those children all dressed in Red?God’s gonna trouble the water.Must be the ones that Moses led.God’s gonna trouble the water.

Chorus:

What are those children all dressed in White?God’s gonna trouble the water.Must be the ones of the Israelites.God’s gonna trouble the water.

Chorus:

Who are these children all dressed in Blue?God’s gonna trouble the water.Must be the ones that made it through.God’s gonna trouble the water.

Wade in the Water

Harriet Tubman sang this spiritual as a warning to runaway slaves. To escaping slaves, the song told them to abandon the path and move into the water. By travelling along the water’s edge or across a body of water, the slaves would throw chasing dogs and their keepers off the scent

Can we wade into the Unknown waters, first understanding the need and than reach out to work toward a renewal of faith and hope in a community that deserves our support?

Restore and fulfill the Dream

http://www.osblackhistory.com/wade.php

Wade in and Stir the Water, Make a Difference