A big donation was announced August 7th that is designed to generate more economic opportunities in north St. Louis County.  Ameren is donating $250,000 to the Urban League of Metro. St. Louis (St. Luios, MO)'s Save Our Son'S Program. That program is based at the Ferguson Community Empowerment Center and helps economically disadvantaged residents find good-paying jobs while also training men to get prepared for those jobs.

This comes on the heels of another $2.5 million dollars that Ameren recent donated to support education and economic development initiatives across the area.

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To Be Equal #30
Marc H. Morial 
July 31, 2019

Gone but not forgotten, August 9th marks the fifth anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, and he is being honored with a public exhibit of things that were close to heart in an effort to humanize the slain teen.

Brown’s graduation gown, an Arnold Palmer drink can, a bag of Skittles and a Cardinals’ scarf is just some of the items his family wants the world to see at the “As I See You: A Tribute to Mike Brown Jr.” exhibit at the Urban League Ferguson Community Empowerment Center (St. Louis, MO).

The public display opens August 9th in Ferguson to the public through Sunday. It is a recreation of Brown’s bedroom on August 9, 2014, the day he was fatally shot by Officer Darren Wilson.

The nine winners of the $1 million Key to Community Grants have been announced.

As part of the Philadelphia Foundation's Key to Community Grant, the general public throughout the Greater Philadelphia Region were given the opportunity to cast their vote between 15 different nonprofits, between July 8 and July 26. 

Three first place winners received $200,000, three second place winners received $100,000, and three third place winners received $33,000.

The grants were split between three categories: economic prosperity, the opportunity divide, and community and civic engagement. 

These are the organizations that have been named the winners across the grant categories, as chosen by three panels of judges:

Economic Prosperity

National Urban League President Marc H. Morial issued the following statement in response to the death of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison:

“The world has lost an eloquent and singular voice of the African-American experience. Her work plumbed the psychic wounds of slavery and brought Black-centered stories into the mainstream. Her literary and spiritual legacy lives on. The Urban League Movement joins her family, friends and the nation in mourning this tremendous loss.”

Twenty-five people from Louisville's poorest neighborhoods can take a coding class for free as part of the Louisville Skills program.  The program is a partnership between Interapt, The University of Louisville, the Louisville Urban League (Louisville, KY) and The Humana Foundation.

Anyone can apply.

It's designed to put people from Louisville's poorest zip codes in high-paying jobs.  Louisville Skills runs for 40 hours a week for 3-4 months at the Hite Art Institute in west Louisville.  Students will also get a $100-a-week stipend, and they could land an apprenticeship when classes are done.

Applications are due Aug. 9.

To read the full article, click here.