The Financial Crisis

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis developed a website designed to keep the community informed about the financial crisis and what actions the Fed is taking in response to the crisis.

The website includes recent news, a timeline of events, articles about the crisis, frequently asked questions, and a glossary of important financial terms.

To check out the website, CLICK HERE.

My Career Search: Lauren Schwarze, Week 3

Hi everybody,

It’s the end of Week 3 of my career search, so here’s another video!  I had a lot of schoolwork this week, so I didn’t get a chance to apply to as many companies as I wanted–my goal is 5 per week–but I did have the chance to do some research so I can send in more resumes this weekend.

I still haven’t heard back from the companies I’d applied to over spring break, but I’m staying optimistic–I need to apply to as many places as I can, and I can’t lose my focus.

Fools gold?

Something that I’ve found myself joking about recently with my friends is that we should be selling off everything that we own that is made out of gold, whether it be gold bullion or some sort of family heirloom. That got me thinking, with gold at record prices is now the time to sell it off?

Coincidentally, the St. Louis Beacon just published an article that addresses my questions and others. To read the article click here!

The American Dream

President and CEO of Beyond Housing – Chris Krehmeyer – talks about what the American Dream means to him, and how he has seen it change ove the course of his life. Chris has a regular blog, which you can find by clicking here  and regularly posts to his twitter account www.twitter.com/chriskbeyond.

I was born on the last of 1961 and just about everyone in my generation and the generation before me had a notion that the American Dream is rooted in buying your own single family home. That was our aspiration. It was a symbol of our success and then the springboard for our children’s success. Like me most working class people look to our homes to be our nesteggs to help build our wealth. We have some pension put away – a lot less now than a year ago but our homes were viewed as our “ticket” to both retirement and helping our childen and grandchildren.

The shift that that has taken place in the last 10-15 years where technology allows us to be incredibly mobile and have the world in our pockets leads me to believe that the idea of the American Dream is beginning to change and will indeed change significantly in years to come. My 20 year old Nick has told me that as of now he has no interest in owning a single family home like the one he grew up in – “maybe a condo” he says. I told him of my recent article in the paper and he informed me politely that he does not know anyone who reads a newspaper. Who am I to pass judgment on this next generation – I do want to pose a question;

What will be the next American Dream? Please let me know what you think.

Living St. Louis: Crown Candy

Ruth Ezell visits the Crown Square development project in North St. Louis City. The area located on 14th Street in the Old St. Louis Historical District was a once popular commercial area that lost its prominence, but is now being restored. Life-long resident John Bratkowski shares the street’s history, and Ezell speaks to community members and developers alike who are working together to help re-make the area, including Stephen Acree of the Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance, the organization that put together the funding for the project and is overseeing the construction. From now on it will be known as Crown Square, named after the old and popular Crown Candy store that is located there. Though the process had been long, neighborhood residents and developers are equally enthusiastic.

Funding for United Way’s Helpline

Last week the St. Louis Business Journal announced that the United Way of Greater St. Louis’s 2-1-1 helpline will be getting $238,000 in federal funding.

Throughout our work on Facing the Financial Crisis, United Way has been a valuable partner—their 2-1-1 referral service has connected many people to trusted resources. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about what the funding will mean for the United Way of Greater St. Louis, and potentially for our region.

To read the full article in the St. Louis Business Journal, CLICK HERE.

Federal Reserve Forum on Community Colleges

Tomorrow, March 24th, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will host a forum called Community Colleges: A Route of Upward Economic Mobility, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  St. Louis Federal Reserve economist Natalia Kolesnikova will present the findings from recent research done about the role of community colleges in higher education.  After her presentation, a panel will talk about other impacts of community college.

Below are the forum’s panelists (confirmed and invited):
Moderator: Roderick Nunn, St. Louis Community College Workforce and Community Development Vice Chancellor (invited)
Community College Representative: Zelema Harris, St. Louis Community College Chancellor (invited)
Georgia Costello, Southwestern Illinois College President (invited)
Workforce and Community College Development Representative : Michael Holmes, St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE)
Executive Director (confirmed)
Debra Moore, St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Dept. (invited)
Four-year Institution Representative: Terry Barnes, University of Missouri Columbia Assistant Provost for Community College Partnerships (confirmed)
Community College Association Representative: A representative from the Missouri Community College Association (invited)

To read the full article by Ms. Kolesnikova, CLICK HERE.

You can also check out the event on our new Community Calendar.

My Career Search: Lauren Schwarze, Week 2

Hi everyone,

It’s week 2 of my career search, so here’s another video.  Last week was spring break, and I took the time off to apply to 15 jobs.  Unfortunately, the only response I got was to tell me that one of the companies I’d applied to wasn’t hiring. 

At first, I was pretty disappointed, but I’m not going to let it get me down.  I’m going to stay positive, and I’m going to keep trying and keep applying to jobs. 

Making Home Affordable

The Treasury Department and HUD have partnered to launch a new website www.makinghomeaffordable.gov for individuals to find out if they are eligible for the President’s new foreclosure mitigation plan. To find out more about the plan visit the website and watch the video below of Chris Krehmeyer of Beyond Housing who is one of our community partners in this work.

To read the press release of the launch of this new site see below.

Community Voices: Beyond Housing

As we continue our Community Voices series, we gave one of our partners, Beyond Housing, a Flip video camera so they could record their responses to President Obama’s new home foreclosure plan.  Chris Krehmeyer, President and CEO of Beyond Housing, and Linda Ingram, Director of Foreclosure Prevention Services at Beyond Housing, both talk about the plan and what it could mean for St. Louis.

 

Below we’ve featured one of the videos.  To see the other videos from Linda and Chris, you can visit our YouTube channel, or the Community Voices section of our site.