2015 Rise Up Festival Video

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Warm greetings, friends of Rise!

We here at Rise Community Development want to share this wonderful video shot and produced exclusively to highlight the amazing artists, musicians, sponsors, and YOU – our supporters – that contributed to making the 2015 Rise Up Festival a huge success.

If you couldn’t make it out this year Rise hopes this teaser showcasing all the fantastic elements that come together to revitalize and lift our communities convinces you to visit next year’s Rise Up Festival for tasty local eats, an inclusive representation of the St. Louis arts and music scene, family-friendly fun, and to find out what Rise is all about.

(Hint: It’s about making St. Louis an even better place to work, play, and live!)

 

 

The Rise Up Festival is Coming! – 8.21.2015

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Rise is thrilled to invite you to the 3rd annual Rise Up Festival – Celebrating Revitalization, a St. Louis-centric, family-friendly, multimedia street festival that will be a memorable and fun event for attendees and participants alike:

August 21st from 4:00 to 11:00 PM in front of the Rise office at 1627 Washington Ave., situated directly in the heart of St. Louis’ historic garment  district, the festival will feature local live music acts as well as a fine arts and crafts show managed by Cultural Festivals (founders and managers of the Saint Louis Art Fair), juried and approved by professionally working artists, and university luminaries. Additionally, family-friendly street acts and areas, presentations by local businesses, and comestibles available from local  restaurateurs and micro-breweries will all be part of the entertainment for the evening.

This is a captivating event where St. Louisans, artisans, and businesses can present their talents and wares, as well as support Rise’s nonprofit  mission: to revitalize, reinvigorate, and foster healthy communities in the St. Louis metro area. St. Louis’ premier party band, The Dirty Muggs  will headline the music venue and the Jeremiah Johnson Band will be serving up the high-velocity Blues. After the sun goes down, we have some  special scintillating surprises you won’t want to miss!

Rise has been successful in the redevelopment of The Forest Park Southeast area (home of The Grove), Fox Manor Apartments (behind St. Mary’s High School), Old North St. Louis  (near Crown Candy), the Tower Grove neighborhood, and beyond, particularly in providing affordable, sustainable community spaces that  enhance the overall vibrancy and quality of living in St. Louis.

We really look forward to seeing you at the festival!

Community Development is a Good Investment Strategy – Mary McMurtrey Speaks Out

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Mary McMurtrey  wrote an important and informative article for the Community Builder’s Network. We would like to share this insightful article with you and ask that you share it with others.

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Mary McMurtrey is currently the Director of Community Engagement for the Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation.  She previously served as President of the Gateway Center for Giving (formerly The Metropolitan Association for Philanthropy) for over six years.  Prior to joining The Center, she served as the Executive Director of Boys Hope Girls Hope St. Louis and before changing sectors to human services she served as the Executive Director of the Wildlife Rescue Center.  Before entering the field of nonprofit management, Mary was the communications officer for the Public Policy Research Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis where she was recruited to create a new position within the PPRC and to direct the organization’s communications and marketing efforts as an established professional entity in the St. Louis policy arena with a focus on both regional and national issues.  Mary lives in Ladue with her husband Michael and their children, Sophia and Lyla.

Mary is a great proponent of non-profit fund development in St. Louis, enthusiastic and forward thinking. Please read on:

Our region fundamentally lacks the community development infrastructure needed to incent local and national development dollars. This is deeply troubling, as it means we are leaving meaningful philanthropic dollars on the table. The community development initiatives we choose to support must make business sense, but they must also help improve the quality of life for the people who live in those communities.

Think about it. Services exist in a place.  A community.  As such, before allocating dollars to a worthy cause, as funders I believe we have an obligation to give equal weight to the quality of life for the people within those communities. We need to think beyond our funding niche, and also focus on community and economic development and give those issues the attention they deserve. READ MORE.

 

The Rebirth of 4247-49 Russell

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Here is a fantastic article put out by Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Redevelopment:

Before

Four years ago, 4247–49 Russell was a vacant shell of building with multiple owners and no future.  The property next door was an overcrowded nuisance with drug dealers on the front porch daily.  4247 49 Russell was originally owned by the infamous Doug Hartmann, who spent 5 years in prison for bilking investors of millions from real estate scams.  You can read more about him here http://preservationresearch.com/2009/08/doug-hartmann-gets-two-years-life-of-shame/.  As with many Hartmann deals, some improvements were completed but the units were never finished.   Over the years, the building was converted into condominiums. More time passed and as the foreclosures on 4247-49 Russell proceeded, multiple owners connected to the scam and others like LRA were holding condos individually.  Alderman Conway suggested the Shaw Neighborhood Housing Corp (now TGNCDC) purchase one foreclosed unit that was offered for sale.  We did.  It took multiple years and negotiations with banks and LRA to assemble the remaining 3 units.  Once the building was secured, a developer, Novus, was selected to complete the renovation.  The end result is a beautifully renovated property which helps stabilize the block and bring new home owners to the area.  Both units at 4247-49 Russell were listed last week for $248,500 and both units were under contract the same day.  Also, due to the development sign and renovation of 4247-49 Russell, the property next door was bought and renovated.  Novus also completed the renovation at 4217 Russell which sold after one day on the market and at a record price.  State tax credits and tax abatement helped ensure the projects success. To view the rest of the article and photos click here.