











Sarah Barnhart
Markus Brooks
Margaux Fontaine
Yiwen Hao
Meghan Jendusa
Meghan Johnson
Miranda Seguera
Robert Woltering
Joe Andreoni
Michael Boyce
Connor Gandossy
Michael Roach
Margaret Bingham
Michael Finochiarro
Elizabeth Hall
Colin Husey
Geoffrey King
Devin Kostrzewksi
Vaughn Spivey
Michael Backer
Patrick Dawson
Sarah Leach

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
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
Population
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
THE THIRD WORLD NEAR YOU:
THE CHALLENGES OF URBAN AMERICA
Social data & statistics on disadvantaged “at-risk”
communities near you
These neighborhoods reveal the reality of urban poverty
Are you aware?

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 & WellsGoodfellow 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. 63106 63107 63112 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.
63106 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.
63106
63107
63112
63113
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.”
“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.”
“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.”


“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.
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
Chorus
Wade in the water,
Wade in the water children.
Wade in the water
God’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.
http://www.osblackhistory.com/wade.php
Wade in and Stir the Water, Make a Difference