Tower Grove South Neighborhood Association Celebrates One Year Anniversary after leadership from Tower Grove Neighborhoods CDC, SLACO and SLU Law Helped Create the Organization
On April 15th, 2016 Tower Grove South Neighborhood Association will celebrate the election of its first Steering Committee and on April 20th will host its Officer Elections at the monthly TGSNA meeting. Both are a beacon of pride and a testament to the dedication of the residents of TGS. The road was not an easy one as TGS had been without a resident driven neighborhood association for over a decade (previous versions of an association where driven by the former Grand Oak Hill Community Development Corporation with resident input). So how did we get here?
In January of 2014, Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation (TGNCDC) received a Community Development grant to institute the Neighborhood Ownership Model (NOM) into one of the three neighborhoods we represent. Tower Grove South was chosen, with the hope that through bringing residents together to make the NOM sustainable, we could use the opportunity to also build a resident driven neighborhood association.
By August of 2014 the monthly NOM meetings had been attended by hundreds of residents, many volunteering their time and energy to spearhead the safety initiatives. The time was right, TGNCDC contacted SLACO (St. Louis Association of Community Organization) requesting their support on bringing the idea of a neighborhood association for TGS to fruition. SLACO graciously agreed and in October started the conversation and presented a survey to the TGS residents at the NOM meeting. By January of 2015 SLACO and the residents had created an Exploratory Committee to begin building the foundation for the neighborhood association. In February, SLU Law school signed on to help create the Bylaws and filing for a 501c3 status. On April 15th, 2015 a Steering Committee was elected by TGS residents to be the first representatives of the TGSNA and spent the next 2 months working with SLU Law, SLACO & TGNCDC on creating the Bylaws for the new association. Bylaws were presented at June NOM meeting to residents and nominations for TGSNA Officers and Quadrant Representatives were requested.
On July 15th 2015, one year and 7 months after the introduction of the NOM, the first election of directors and officers for the new Tower Grove South Neighborhood Association took place. More than 125 people come out to listen to speeches from 22 outstanding candidates and cast their votes. The new leadership, made up of 13 members, also made it official by approving the final version of the bylaws and signing the articles of incorporation. The rest is history.
TGNCDC feels honored to have had the opportunity to partner with the residents of Tower Grove South, SLACO, and SLU Law, to create a sustainable resident driven neighborhood association. We look forward to decades of collaboration to ensure positive growth and stability to the residents of TGS.
