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JSMF Announces $1.8 Million in New Workforce and Wealth-Building Grants

Logos for STL Youth Jobs and Tabernacle Community Development Corporation

The James S. McDonnell Foundation is pleased to announce two new investments totaling $1,880,198 in its focus areas of workforce and wealth building and protection: one that creates an equitable, cross-sector pathway for young people in under-resourced neighborhoods to secure high-paying healthcare careers and another that transforms vacant properties into enduring community assets while building generational wealth for local families.

STL Youth Jobs

STL Youth Jobs is a youth development organization that bridges the gap between regional workforce needs and local young people (ages 14 to 24) in under-resourced neighborhoods across the City of St. Louis and North St. Louis County. The organization is developing the Career Institute to address youth underemployment and urgent regional healthcare workforce shortages by preparing students for career pathways that lead to high-demand healthcare roles. Operating across two cohorts totaling 80-100 students, the Career Institute integrates dual-enrollment college coursework through St. Louis Community College, basic healthcare certifications via the American Red Cross, paid summer internships, professional networking, and one-on-one mentorship from industry professionals.

JSMF’s investment will serve as core funding for the Career Institute.

Tabernacle Community Development Corporation

Established in 2014 and rooted in North St. Louis, Tabernacle Community Development Corporation (TCDC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating systemic poverty and social exclusion by revitalizing the social, educational, and economic infrastructure of historically disinvested neighborhoods. TCDC’s Pathways to Ownership Initiative aims to address the shortage of quality, affordable for-sale housing for families earning 30-120% of Area Median Income in North St. Louis City and North St. Louis County by fully rehabilitating vacant or distressed single-family homes, transforming them into productive, owner-occupied housing that embeds meaningful walk-in equity for each homebuyer. TCDC will pair affordable homeownership with homebuyer coaching, cross-sector partnerships, and recycled capital to ensure long-term stability and success.

JSMF’s investment will support the establishment of a self-sustaining housing model that continuously reinvests net home-sale proceeds into future regional development.