St. Louis knows all too well the impact of unaddressed racial tensions brought out when a tragedy occurs. Misunderstandings quickly escalate, resulting in overgeneralization, stereotyping, and blaming others. The history, strength, and diversity of St. Louis deserves to be represented better than this contention and turmoil. Neighborhoods United for Change is designed to bridge the gap of misunderstandings by bringing St. Louis neighborhoods together for healing, understand and continued community collaboration for positive change at a grassroots level. 

One of the unique aspects of St. Louis is that despite it being a large city, it already has some tangible feelings of community. In order to strengthen this community aspect of St. Louis, this project aims to bridge the gap in understanding between people, between communities, differences in available housing and between races.

Progress needs to be made between people because generalization and stereotyping becomes more difficult once someone has gotten to know the other person. This project will allow people to get to know their neighbors, near and far, by sharing conversation about life experiences over lunch together. Once St. Louis neighbors get to know one another, a space has been created that could lead to lasting and meaningful relationships, as well as a support network and potential buffer for the future.

Progress needs to be made between communities because St. Louis neighborhoods are all so unique and can gain a great deal of insight from each other through sharing their knowledge and experiences about their community. This project will allow the participants to directly visit and experience another St. Louis neighborhood, gain insight from their specific strengths and successes, as well as network about potential improvements about neighborhood housing initiatives.

Progress needs to be made between races because it's clear that well-rounded acceptance is not yet reality. This project will bring a north city neighborhood together with a south city neighborhood in order to create an opportunity for different races to realize their similarities, yet also establish mutual respect for each other’s differences. This project will be a stepping stone towards breaking down hesitancy in interacting, and eliminating stereotyping which can lead to unfair housing practices.

SLACO provides a perfect convener for this unique set of events due to its direct access to its 29 member neighborhood associations. SLACO specializes in providing venues for neighborhoods to learn from and network with each other to create a desirable urban environment.  Our mission is to improve the quality of life for residents and stakeholders of neighborhoods in the St. Louis region through community-based initiatives, citizen empowerment, and neighborhood organizing. Our member neighborhoods represent 30% of the City’s population.