Faith & For the Sake of All is inviting the community to join in a discussion with local faith leaders this weekend to find ways to tackle racial equity issues in St. Louis.
The local nonprofit focuses on improving the health and well-being of black St. Louisans through faith-based social action.
The organization’s director, the Rev. Gabrielle Kennedy, said the organization grew out of the For the Sake of All report. Kennedy said the report highlighted several community needs including early childhood development, stabilizing neighborhoods, investing in mental health awareness and helping low-income families.
“If we can address those areas in the ministries or the programming that’s happening in these churches, then those will be places that we know we can affect and dismantle racism in St. Louis,” Kennedy said.
A key thing black churches and Kennedy’s organization are working to address is the state of black neighborhoods in the region that have largely been ignored.
“In these neighborhoods that we think have no value, because there’s no commerce there and because the houses are in poor condition and all of that, there’s still value there,” she said. “Well, why do we know this? Because people live there … the black church has always known that there’s value where there are black people and where there are black lives.”
This weekend’s event is the kickoff for the organization’s “Mobilizing the Faithful Expansion Project.”
The event is 2-4 p.m. Sunday at St. John AME Church and will feature the Rev. Dr. James Forbes Jr. as guest speaker.Follow Marissanne on Twitter: @Marissanne2011
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