Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC Changes Name, Expands Service Area and Releases New Mission-Driven Five-Year Business Plan
The near South St. Louis City neighborhoods of Shaw, Tower Grove South and Southwest Garden, after 40 years of strategic redevelopment, have blossomed into some of the most desirable areas to live in the region. Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation (TGNCDC) leads the effort to eliminate vacant and nuisance properties, develop and facilitate development of market rate and affordable housing, and educate investors and property managers. The organization also brings to the marketplace innovative tenant screening and tenant placement services through HomeScreen and ARCH by HomeScreen.
The historic service area of Shaw, Tower Grove South and Southwest Garden neighborhoods has improved, and real estate redevelopment opportunities have dwindled. Due to a strong need to financially support our organization while continuing mission-driven work compatible with our capacity and experience, TGNCDC has started working with real estate services in neighborhoods outside of our historic service area. We continue to produce a citywide Landlord and Rehabber Training Program and have grown HomeScreen and ARCH By HomeScreen(At Risk Connection to Housing) into regional assets to screen tenants for housing and to help not for profit clients find and secure professionally managed housing.
Over the last 12 months, TGNCDC evaluated our services and staff experience, identified our skills and acknowledged our limited capacity. We also asked for and received feedback from local stakeholders about the needs of the community, and we accepted that our historic service area is no longer a low income Qualified Census Tract, which is mandatory for place-based federal funding. As we finished our five-year planning process, Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation (TGNCDC), after careful thought, approved changing the name to Tower Grove CDC (TGCDC) to signify our expansion into the St. Louis metropolitan region (15 counties) while acknowledging we will still focus capacity on our traditional activities, including vacant/nuisance property abatement and affordable housing development in Shaw, Tower Grove South and Southwest Garden neighborhoods.
TGCDC Board President Janice Drake said, “We are officially growing our service area, but we are not leaving. Community development is cumulative, and we want to continue to build on the success of our activities to help other communities thrive.”
Every community development corporation in St. Louis City has been challenged by the change in the way City of St. Louis' Community Development Administration Community Development Block Grant (CDA CDBG) funding is allocated. CDA CDBG funding was previously 80% of the TGCDC budget, and it now represents 5%. CDCs must find ways to continue mission-driven work while being financially solvent. Tower Grove CDC has made a successful transition from facilitating development to the actual work of development and growing our other programming/reach through activities such as HomeScreen and ARCH by HomeScreen. To continue to serve our community, we need to keep growing our mission-driven business lines and stay focused on our achievable goals as it relates to our capacity and experience. Please take a moment to review our five-year business plan goals here.
The TGCDC board and staff would like to thank all of the stakeholders and planning experts who assisted us with the important decisions that will help ensure that our organization makes valuable contributions to its mission for years to come.
Our place-based ecosystem of community development corporations brings immense value to residents, businesses and other stakeholders in St. Louis City neighborhoods, and our impact should not be bound by working one side of the street and not the other. Only a comprehensive and collaborative approach will make the change we want and need to see. Tower Grove Community Development Corporation plants the flag every day with one overarching goal to help our city improve, and we are positioning our organization to continue the work across borders for years to come.
The Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation is a not-for-profit organization that promotes responsible development, affordable housing, diverse character and vibrancy.