Community Rebuilding Inc.

If selected we would use the funds to fully establish and realize a year round program that would be able to take a new class every year instead of just when we can secure the funding.  The funds would be used to hire additional staff so that the courses could run concurrently, to improve the equipment and the support staff for our clients, to purchase dilapidated buildings and materials which are used in the program for student training and finally to provide free repair services to seniors, veterans and disabled and disadvantaged residents with the goal of providing maintenance that fortifies the housing in the community that would otherwise be condemned.  

Life gives us choices and we often take the wrong one and end up in a place that you do not want to be, nor can you figure out how you truly got there.  For me that place was prison.  While there I observed the revolving door.  I had plenty of time to think about my life and what I would do about it after I got out.  I realized that people closest to me were going through the same challenges. 

My father built four houses a year and he taught us the construction trade.  CRI was created to revitalize our community the way he did.  I want to stop the cycle that sent me to prison.  I knew if I could focus on building rather than destroying, our youth would have a chance. I lost my only son and a nephew.  My nephew was gun down and that made my son feel hopeless which sent him to prison at age 16.  

Me, I am that person who want to use my mistakes to show them that they can be successful and that their story does not have to end with a bullet or a prison cell.       

CRI works to end the cycle of student dropouts and the choice of prison or death, homelessness, dilapidated housing structures and maintenance for seniors, veterans and the disabled, who cannot afford to pay for and arrange these services for themselves.  Our services empowers them to be able to remain in their homes living independently and creates a higher standard of living in our communities.  There are over 5000 dilapidated buildings and the educational system has dropped to under 50 percent of the eligible 37,000 students ages 16 to 18.  However we serves clients 16 to 24. There are thousands of youth who are not employable due to the lack of basic skills.  Our program is OHSA certified.  We have served 870 students, and they have completed 206 service project in St, Louis.  There are 100,000 residents who need our services.

CRI's approach is innovative because it is the only program whose mission is to interrupt the process of going to prison or being killed before turning 16 to 24 years of age.  Our clients are taught that they have the ability to draw from within themselves to make their lives and communities better. CRI's program instills in our clients a sense that they do not have to fall victim to the cycle that ends in prison or death.  They are paid a wage that they can live on and feel good about.  They are taught leadership skills and they are taught that they can be self-sufficient contributors to society and create a legacy for themselves even as single parents.  By connecting them with seniors, veterans and the disable they become connected to the community in a manor that stimulates pride, self-confidence, and a vision for the future. 

CRI program is a program of second chance, instead of putting you out of the program we do everything necessary to get you the help you need. Each person needs are different so we address each and every need through talking, becoming a leader, and motivation. In the beginning you have to identify what you are to CRI. There are three choices Comrade, Confidant, or Constituent. Once I identified they learn who they really are and if they are comrades they work to become confidants.