St. Joseph Housing Initiative focuses on helping families, neighborhoods
Archbishop Robert J. Carlson saw the need for increased homeownership and added stability in neighborhoods with high rates of rental housing, and he did something about it.
The St. Joseph Housing Initiative is a faith-based, nonprofit entity producing quality housing for low- and moderate-income families in the St. Louis area. It grew out of a conversation Archbishop Carlson had with Bridget Flood, executive director of the Incarnate Word Foundation and formed with the help of St. Mary’s High School, five Catholic parishes, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Saint Louis University and others.
Flood said the initiative developed from a discussion about a section in the Ferguson Commission report on housing. “Archbishop Carlson took a leadership role by initiating St. Joseph Housing in order to provide home ownership opportunities for families who are typically paying more in rent for substandard housing than for a mortgage,” she said.
The archbishop and Flood announced the initiative in July of 2018. “It’s very, very important to have an adequate place to raise a family,” Archbishop Carlson said.
If a family lives in a home that is inadequate or rents from someone who doesn’t take care of it, that family and the neighborhood suffer, he said.
A year later, Archbishop Carlson blessed the first home in St. Cecilia Parish renovated by the initiative as a dozen people formed a welcoming committee for the new homeowners. In blessing the home, Archbishop Carlson prayed for the new owners and noted the importance of supporting growing families. He asked that God “always be here with you” and that the family, inspired by His teachings, will make the home “a dwelling place of love.”
A goal of the rehab was to ensure the family chosen for the home won’t have to make repairs for many years. The renovations included a new roof, a second bathroom, electrical and plumbing updates, tuckpointing and making sure all the major components of the house are solid.
Initially, the St. Joseph Housing Initiative is rehabilitating houses around the diverse Carondelet and Dutchtown neighborhoods of south St. Louis. The initiative has rehabbed and sold three homes to families and is working on other homes.
The effort seeks to preserve the neighborhoods of St. Louis and reinvigorate them into diverse, sustainable areas where low- and moderate-income families can build wealth. The work on rehabbing housing and providing a path to homeownership relies on volunteers from the faith community.
“We have to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to create wealth,” Archbishop Carlson said. “As my parents used to say, perhaps the best investment is in a home. … It’s a place where they can experience love and develop to their full potential.”
Archbishop Carlson’s desire for decent housing, allowing families to embrace homeownership, follows Church teaching on the respect and dignity of each person. In 1983, under the leadership of St. John Paul II, the Vatican released the Charter of the Rights of the Family, which stated: “The family has the right to decent housing, fitting for family life and commensurate to the number of the members, in a physical environment that provides the basic services for the life of the family and community.”
