The Origin of Our Mission
When I talk about Essential StL, I like to start with our vision and mission to ensure that we begin with the right context. I want to talk a little bit about how that mission came to be, but first, let’s start with a reminder. Here it is:
Our Vision:
Saint Louis is a loving, vibrant and unified city that is a great place to be for everyone.
Our Mission Statement:
Our mission is to compassionately and courageously elevate the love, vibrance and unity that make Saint Louis a great place to be. We do this by fixing houses, helping people find homes they love, and encouraging local investment by people who believe in Saint Louis.
This has evolved slightly over the past several years, but the core has remained the same.
I’ve always had a fascination with buildings, construction and architecture. Prior to 2016, I was dabbling in real estate and knew I wanted to do it full-time. I also knew I wanted to do something more meaningful than just regular old “flips” like so many other companies were doing. I wanted to do something special, something unique, something that made a difference. I also wasn’t quite sure what that should be.
But something didn’t feel right about just going into neighborhoods and “flipping” houses. By that I mean buying a place that needs some work and then doing the absolute minimum required to sell it and make a few bucks. It just felt wrong and I knew I could do it better.
Then back in 2015 (I think it was on my 40th birthday), I had lunch with a friend and then after we ate, I went for a walk through one of the more distressed neighborhoods. I wanted to enjoy the architecture and the nice spring weather.
I posted on Facebook that I was going for a walk in that area. The comments I got were mostly expressing concern for my safety. I also remember a lady driving an ice cream truck offering to give me a ride back to my truck because she was concerned for my safety. I declined but did buy some ice cream. I wasn’t particularly worried and felt quite comfortable.
Later on my walk, I noticed a group of kids playing on a vacant corner lot. They were probably 10-12 years old and I’d guess there were 6 or 8 of them. They were innocently playing baseball and having a great time.
At that moment, it was struck by the contrast between folks concern for my safety and the kids playing on the corner. It didn’t make sense. If I was so unsafe, why were kids playing so innocently nearby?
The answer is complex and has many layers. I don’t claim to have all the answers or even understand the problems. But I do know that there are things we can do differently that will make Saint Louis a better place to be for everyone.
One of those things we can do is fix our dilapidated buildings. When we take just one vacant, falling down building and rehab it, we add thousands of dollars to the city’s property tax revenue. Many of the problems in Saint Louis can be made significantly better with more money.
I believe there are three things that we can do to make Saint Louis a great place to be for everyone:
Fix Houses
Help people buy homes they love
Encourage local investment by people who believe in Saint Louis
That’s what we do. It’s how we compassionately and couragously uncover the essence of Saint Louis’ People, Communities and Homes.
I’m always happy to discuss more, click here for more information about Essential StL and find out how you can get involved in what we are doing.
Photo by Jennifer Burk on Unsplash