OUR PATH FORWARD:
WELCOME OUR INTERIM PRESIDENT & CEO
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Deaconess Community,
On Tuesday, October 6, Deaconess Foundation’s board of trustees approved the engagement of community leader, Cheryl D.S. Walker, Esq., as our Interim President & CEO. Walker is no stranger to this organization or community. She was a Deaconess trustee from 2011 through 2017 and chaired the board from 2015 through 2017. Cheryl was also the founding president of the board of directors for Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being and has served in that capacity since 2017. She will begin working alongside me on October 22, then assume leadership of the foundation upon my departure on November 18.
Ms. Walker will support the board and guide the extraordinary staff during our national search for a permanent chief executive. Her knowledge of nonprofit governance and executive transitions will be remarkably valuable. In recent years, she has led successful executive search committees for the University of Missouri System, the St. Louis Regional Health Commission, and the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission.
Cheryl is currently president & CEO of Seven24 Consulting Group LLC and a transactions attorney for Walker Commercial Law Group, LLC. She was previously Of Counsel for Riley Safer Homes & Cancila LLP and Bryan Cave LLP. Walker chairs the boards of the Missouri Ethics Commission and St. Louis Regional Health Commission and is vice chair of the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission. Other current board memberships include the St. Louis Business Empowerment Center, Saint Louis Social Venture Partners and the Whitaker Foundation. She previously chaired the University of Missouri Board of Curators and the St. Louis Mental Health Board of Trustees.
Walker earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Missouri University of Science & Technology and the juris doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a member of the Illinois and Missouri Bars and has been honored with numerous awards, including the St. Louis Business Journal’s Most Influential Women (2017), National Society of Black Engineers’ Excellence in the Legal Profession (2012), and the YWCA Metro St. Louis’ Women Leaders Award (2008).
Our Transition Committee is in the process of finalizing the search team to assist the board in identifying, screening, and selecting a talented pool of candidates. The search firm and Committee will be affirmed at the Joint Annual Meeting of Deaconess Foundation and Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being on Tuesday, November 10th from 7:30 – 9:00 a.m. Register here to join us for this open meeting and welcome Cheryl into this new role in our community.
For our children,
Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson
President & CEO
Deaconess Foundation
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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT:
DUTCHTOWN SOUTH COMMUNITY CORPORATION
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Dutchtown South Community Corporation (DSCC) is a community development corporation started and led by neighborhood residents serving four southeast St. Louis City neighborhoods: Dutchtown, Gravois Park, Marine Villa and Mt. Pleasant. DSCC’s mission is to advance neighborhood vitality through community empowerment, housing stabilization and real estate development.
Deaconess Foundation funds DSCC through both our Responsive portfolio and COVID-19 Equitable Relief and Recovery Fund (ERRF). Responsive funding supports the Homes for All – St. Louis (HFASTL) coalition project, an initiative to defend tenants’ rights and expand housing that is truly affordable. An allocation through our ERRF supports DSCC as a member of Deaconess’ Just Recovery Cohort which provides general operating support, training and coaching, and peer support for capacity building efforts.
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FROM THE FOUNDATION: CHILDREN'S SABBATH |
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- raise awareness of problems facing children and families in our nation (such as poverty, gun violence, and lack of health care), and
- explore the texts and teachings in religious traditions that call us to nurture and protect children with love and justice, and
- engage people of faith in immediate and long-term action to nurture, protect, and seek justice for children.
Its aim is to inspire, inform, and equip participants for long-term, year-round action that improves the lives of children and families. By participating in this multi-faith, nationwide celebration, people of faith gain the inspiration of participating in a larger movement for children and help amplify the voice of our faith communities calling for justice.
This year, considering the urgent needs of our nation’s children and the current opportunity to use our votes as our voices for children, Children’s Sabbath weekend focused on engaging in democracy through:
- voter education and voting,
- promoting children’s literature that reflects diverse experiences and encourages social action, and
- using masks to promote positive messages.
Deaconess honored Children’s Sabbaths in partnership with several congregations. Locally, our CDF Freedom Schools Partner, Peace United Church of Christ, included Deaconess’ faith-inspired advocacy video into their morning worship. Rev. Wilson brought the Sunday sermons in virtual worship for three congregations: our CDF Freedoms Schools Partner, Saint John’s Church (The Beloved Community), The Gathering United Methodist Church and the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Watch Dr. Wilson’s Children’s Sabbaths sermon for Ebenezer, delivered from the chapel at CDF’s Alex Haley Farm here.
It is not too late for you to join in on the action inspired by the Children’s Sabbath. Please refer to the 2020 Children’s Sabbath Action Guide for a broad range of actions that can make a difference this year.
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PARTNERSHIP & CAPACITY BUILDING:
REGIONAL RACIAL HEALING FUND
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Forward Through Ferguson has led community outreach and engagement efforts over the summer to develop and execute the grantmaking process. Between late June and September, hundreds of community members designed the foundational grantmaking framework for the Fund, including funding priorities for the inaugural cycle.
Community members contributed through focus groups, phone bank calls and surveys. Residents from regionally diverse zip codes in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and St. Clair County participated, with one-third representation across each locality. Notably, residents in the Promise Zone and north of Delmar were deeply engaged.
In October, the Fund’s Selection Committee, consisting of community organizers and healing practitioners, finalized the Community Governance Board to manage the Fund. The members of the Community Governance Board are Michelle Barbeau, Tiana Glass, Lettie Hicks, Patrice Hill, Kaylan Holloway, Jenniqual Johnson, Mia Malcolm, Aaron Rogers and Dawne Turner.
The Selection Committee and Community Governance Board (community residents) are made up of 45% individuals who identify as Black. The Community Governance Board will review and have decision-making power over how funding will be distributed to regional Black and Brown communities’ healing efforts, programs, and initiatives. FTF will provide ongoing support to the cohort throughout the implementation of the grantmaking process. More information about the Participatory Grantmaking process and governance structure can be found here.
Deaconess Funding Opportunities – Visit our website for an up-to-date list of funding opportunities for 2020. Responsive Grant proposals are due October 30, 2020.
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AT THE CENTER: ELECTION 2020 - NOTARY SERVICE |
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The notary station will be set up within Deaconess Center’s Open-Air outdoor convening space at 1000 North Vandeventer Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63113. Facemasks are required and will be provided if needed. Additionally, as part of COVID-19 precautions Deaconess will provide pens for individual use, hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes.
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Number of Uninsured Children Rising at Alarming Rate
Chris King | The St. Louis American
Georgetown University report seconds alarm sounded by Legal Services in Missouri.
An estimated 6.5%, or 95,000, Missouri children were uninsured last year, according to a new report released by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. That number has increased by more than one-third since 2016.
“After successfully reducing the child uninsured rate in our state, we are now seeing a growing number of Missouri’s children going without health coverage,” said Lindsey Baker, Research director at Missouri Budget Project.
“This damaging trend will have long-term consequences for children and communities across Missouri because without health coverage, children cannot access the care they need to grow and thrive.”
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Project connects St. Louis artists to home ownership
Marianne Martinez | KSDK
Vacant St. Louis homes will be transformed into affordable housing for artists through a new nonprofit called the St. Louis Art Place Initiative.
The nonprofit has acquired 25 parcels in the Gravois Park neighborhood in south city and has plans to develop 20 units of affordable housing and green spaces, according to a press release.
The nonprofit has worked alongside community stakeholders to develop a plan for renovating vacant homes, many owned by the City of St. Louis through the Land Reutilization Authority. Dutchtown South Community Corporation serves as a community liaison to "ensure the input and direction of residents and neighbors is central to the planning process," a press release said.
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We are proud to share that our president & CEO, Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, is one of the authors of this recently-released book, mining the wisdom of Howard Thurman for these difficult moments. Other authors include: Parker Palmer, Marian Wright Edelman, Walter Fluker, Barbara Brown Taylor and Luther Smith.
Deaconess is one of the sponsors for a virtual book launch this Saturday, October 24. You are invited to join the conversation! The gathering will consist of 3 parts: live music, a dialogue among the authors, and a live Q&A. We will also be giving away some signed copies of the book to randomly selected attendees.
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PARTNER OPPORTUNITIES AND EVENTS |
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October 24: Boogie Down Dutchtown – A day of dance, movement, healing, and health, hosted by Dutchtown South Community Corporation, 1-9PM, virtual and in-person. For more information, click here.
October 26: National Community Leadership Summit, hosted by Vital Village, 12 PM. For more information, and to register, click here.
November 7: Community Farewell for Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, 1000 N Vandeventer Ave., St. Louis MO 63113, 10 AM - 2 PM. For more information, and to register, click here.
November 20: 2020 Racial Equity Summit – An Online Gathering of Advocates, hosted by Empower Missouri, 12 – 2 PM. For more information, and to register, click here.
Do you have an event you'd like to see in this Newsletter? Submit it here!
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ICYMI:
POWER MOVES ASSESSMENT RESULTS VIRTUAL EVENT
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On September 29th, Deaconess Foundation released the results of our Power Moves Assessment via a live virtual broadcast. Through a collaborative, investigative process involving surveys and interviews with our partners, community members and philanthropic colleagues, we received feedback and got a view of our work from the various fields we engage.
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