Urban Strategies Inc. and the Housing Authority of East St. Louis have received a $350,000 planning grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The grant will help the organizations develop a plan to revitalize the area around the Samuel Gompers Homes, including downtown East St. Louis. Urban Strategies, a St. Louis-based nonprofit focused on community development, said it plans to work with faith-based organizations, colleges and universities, businesses and other nonprofits in the area to develop the plan.Â
"These efforts will create an integrated and holistic plan to revitalize Samuel Gompers Homes and the surrounding downtown community, improve neighborhood safety, and bolster education, health, and employment outcomes for families,†Esther Shin, president of Urban Strategies, said in a statement.Â
Esther Shin, president of Urban Strategies Inc., a national nonprofit organization that works to revitalize neighborhoods.
The area has a poverty rate of some 82 percent, Urban Strategies said.Â
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"We are thrilled that HUD recognized the need to provide this investment that will allow us to begin planning for the transformation of the Gompers neighborhood†Mildred Motley, Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City of East St. Louis, said in the statement.Â
