DEACONESS FOUNDATION AWARDS $100,000 TO ARCHCITY DEFENDERS FOR FREEDOM SUMMER STL

This funding from the Foundation’s Policy Campaign Grant will support civic engagement, community organizing, and grassroots advocacy during this critical election year

ST. LOUIS, MO – Deaconess Foundation (Deaconess) announces its award of $100,000 to ArchCity Defenders in support of Freedom Summer STL. This summer marks the 60^th anniversary of Freedom Summer, a pivotal moment in America’s civil rights history, as well as the 10^th anniversary of the Ferguson Uprising following the killing of Michael Brown Jr. This year is also a critical moment in history with consequential elections where voters will make decisions that will impact our communities for generations to come. ArchCity Defenders’ Freedom Summer STL efforts around political and voter rights education and advocacy create a space of service, activation, and recommitment to justice and transformation for the region in collaboration with Action St. Louis, Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, Freedom Community Center, Homes For All, and other grassroots community partners.

“Sixty years ago, Freedom Summer called into question the disparities between the American ideal and the reality of American democracy,” said Blake Strode, executive director of ArchCity Defenders. “We step into this legacy knowing that now is the moment to both celebrate the strides we have made and recenter and recommit ourselves in the work to transform the policy landscape to make our region a more just place. With Freedom Summer STL we aim to ensure our community is equipped with the information and resources to actively participate in the democratic process.”

Freedom Summer STL is a multidisciplinary effort focusing on four priority areas: voting, expungement, abolition, and housing justice. Throughout the summer, over a series of community events in St. Louis City and County, ArchCity Defenders and their community partners will, in part: 1) provide civics training and opportunities for residents to engage with elected officials, 2) educate residents on their voting rights – from what documents are required on election day to whether or not their right to vote has been restored following a conviction, 3) conduct voter registration, 4) provide criminal record expungement support, and 5) host legal clinics. Freedom Summer STL will culminate in a rally and march in August.

“ArchCity’s Freedom Summer STL envisions public policy change in a way that inspires us,” said Rev. Bethany Johnson-Javois, president & CEO of Deaconess Foundation. “This collaborative and multi-tiered approach to civic engagement, electorate organizing, and policy implementation will have a true impact on the community and it captures the essence of the moment we are in. Components that include the legal clinics will be transformational for many lives in the present while helping to build a more liberated future.”

Funding from the Policy Campaign Grant will allow Freedom Summer STL organizers to build capacity. The aim is to ensure that all information and resources can be easily accessed in a singular setting. The efforts will be a continuation of, and catalyst for, organizing and movement building efforts, providing community members with tools needed to impact policy change.

Deaconess’ Policy Campaign Grants support timely and urgent issue-based campaigns to advance public policy through grassroots advocacy, civic engagement and community organizing aligned with our desired impacts. The grants are designed to support expanded capacity to movement infrastructure. Historically, Policy Campaign grants have supported the successful mobilization of the electorate in support of Medicaid Expansion on the November 2020 Missouri ballot. In 2023, Deaconess Foundation awarded funding to two nonprofit organizations, Alive & Well Communities to support social and emotional wellness policy change for youth and Missouri Jobs with Justice, to build public support and awareness for paid sick leave and economic equity for working families through a living wage.

Freedom Summer STL will kick off on the Juneteenth Holiday, Wednesday, June 19, in collaboration with the annual Juneteenth celebration of Saint John's United Church of Christ (The Beloved Community), Faith for Justice, and Freedom Arts & Education Center. The other event dates will be Saturday, June 29 and Saturday, July 27, followed by the culminating march and rally on Friday, August 30. Express interest in learning more about the campaign and events at bit.ly/FreedomSummerSTLInterest. Learn more about Deaconess’ funding initiatives and opportunities at deaconess.org/funding.

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About ArchCity Defenders

ArchCity Defenders (ACD) is a holistic legal advocacy organization that combats the criminalization of poverty and state violence, especially in communities of color. ACD’s foundation of civil and criminal legal representation, social services, impact litigation, policy and media advocacy, and community collaboration achieves and inspires justice and equitable outcomes for people throughout the St. Louis region and beyond.

ArchCity Defenders envisions a society liberated from systems of oppression where the promise of justice and racial equity is realized; communities where our approach to public safety prioritizes investment in well-being, health, and transformation without relying on criminalization and incarceration; and people living freely in their communities, thriving regardless of their race or income. Learn more at archcitydefenders.org.

About Deaconess Foundation

Deaconess Foundation envisions a community that values the health and well-being of all and gives priority attention to the most invisibilized. Deaconess seeks to create conditions where liberation is the lived reality within seven generations. A ministry of the United Church of Christ, Deaconess has invested more than $100 million to improve the health of the St. Louis community since 1998. Our grants and cultivated relationships support the accelerated change in conditions through policy, advocacy, and/or organizing efforts building and wielding power to transform systems to respond to the will of the people.

The Foundation’s advocacy and grantmaking footprint includes St. Louis City, St. Louis, Jefferson, St. Charles, and Franklin Counties in Missouri and Madison, St. Clair, and Monroe Counties in Illinois. For more information, visit deaconess.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter and Instagram @deaconessfound and on Facebook at facebook.com/deaconessfoundation.

DEACONESS FOUNDATION LAUNCHES APPLICATION FOR SECOND COHORT OF THE INSTITUTE FOR BLACK LIBERATION

The leadership development program provides Black people in the Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois region with an opportunity to heal from racial trauma and grow as leaders who will pursue a just future

ST. LOUIS, MO – Deaconess Foundation (Deaconess) is now accepting applications for the second cohort of the Institute for Black Liberation (the Institute), a novel approach to developing liberatory consciousness through healing the hurts of internalized racism. The Institute gives Black leaders in the Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois region the opportunity to name, reckon with and heal from racial trauma and the pervasive effects of internalized and structural racism. The applied learnings and transformational experience of the interdisciplinary, intergenerational Institute will prime participants to accelerate the creation of conditions that promote a just, whole society and future with impact felt most profoundly within Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois. The application deadline is Friday, May 24. Interested individuals may apply at deaconess.org/institute.

“The Institute for Black Liberation is lovingly curated for leaders to learn, reflect, and break free from what holds us back from realizing our greatness," said Rev. Bethany Johnson-Javois, president & CEO of Deaconess Foundation. “We believe that the transformation that begins from within will inevitably lead to well and powerful leaders who will revolutionize the relationship between systems and people.”

The Institute’s inaugural cohort will complete its nine-month experience this May, completing three, one-week in-person immersion sessions, monthly two-hour virtual group sessions, and some group and individual coaching. Participants in the Institute can expect outcomes that include: 1) self-discovery, reflection, intensive training and learning focused on healing racial trauma and promoting well-being, 2) identifying and dismantling internalized oppression, 3) examining and exploring strategies for celebrating racial identity, 4) building power through collective development of leadership skills and kinship with others, and 5) developing tools to sustain change through generations.

“When we free ourselves from the behaviors that result from oppression and white supremacy, we give ourselves the room to build a community that reflects our truth,” said Rudy Nickens, program director of Deaconess Foundation’s Institute for Black Liberation. “Formed from a decades-long vision, the Institute is a transformational and safe space for individuals, and for our community to further the healing work that plays a crucial role in creating a profoundly different future.”

Rudy Nickens leads a team of facilitators, including Dr. Barbara Love and Cliff Jones. The curriculum is dedicated to the healing and development of Black leaders by centering Black lives, Black thoughts, and Black liberation.

The multi-year pilot of the Institute is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. With this grant, Deaconess is expanding its role as an institutional advocate working towards the improved health and well-being of the region and its people.

Applications for the Institute are now being accepted until Friday, May 24. Applications are open to Black people, over age 25, located within the Metropolitan St. Louis region, with a special emphasis on St. Louis City and St. Louis County, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois. Interested individuals may apply and view FAQs at deaconess.org/institute.

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About Deaconess Foundation

The Foundation’s advocacy and grantmaking footprint includes St. Louis City, St. Louis, Jefferson, St. Charles and Franklin Counties in Missouri and Madison, St. Clair and Monroe Counties in Illinois. For more information, visit deaconess.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter and Instagram @deaconessfound and on Facebook at facebook.com/deaconessfoundation.