Light a Single Candle Foundation has the privilege of working with so many wonderful partners in St. Louis. Here are some of our featured projects:
Economic Sustainability
Beyond Housing: Homeownership Expansion – Year 2
This was the second year of support to the Homeownership Expansion Program, Keys 2 Homeownership, that is focused on improving credit scores, increasing savings, and helping move participants into home ownership. This second year of programming helped 40 participants move into homeownership.
Beyond Housing: Keys 2 Homeownership
Funding provided continued support of the Keys 2 Homeownership program, which is focused on improving credit scores, increasing savings, and helping move participants into home ownership. This year’s program aims to move 25 out of 100 participants into homeownership in 2024.
Catholic Charities of St. Louis: Pathways to Progress
Pathways to Progress is an intensive, long-term case management program that seeks to build on individual strengths and develop assets leading to self-sufficiency and empowering families in north St. Louis neighborhoods for long-term success. This year’s programming aims to increase participants annual median income by 5%.
Connections to Success: Pathways to Success STL
This is a second year of support to the Pathways to Success program for 300 beneficiaries in North St. Louis County that provides personal and professional development and assists with job placement, as well as life-skills coaching and goal setting to help break the cycle of poverty for the beneficiaries and their families. The program aims to have 75% of participants working full time, earning an average starting wage of $18/hour with 80% increasing their wage by at least $1/hour every year for 3 years.
Dream Builders 4 Equity: Home Repairs for Seniors
Home Repair for Seniors will provide renovations to 5 senior homes in the Hyde Park Community. This program goes hand in hand with the Summer Academy and apprenticeship program for 50+ youth where they will receive wages, work experience, professional development training, and mentorship. The youth program aims to have 90% of all past and present participants gainfully employed, enrolled in secondary education, or actively pursuing next steps, such as vocational training or internships.
Fathers & Families Support Center: Family Formation & Employment Project
The Family Formation program graduated 199 participants in 2023, impacting 537 children, and focused on increasing employment rates and income for families. This program aims to assist at least 60% of unemployed/underemployed parents in obtaining employment earning an average wage of $12/hr. or more.
Justine PETERSEN: Contractor Line of Credit
This is the second year of the Contractor Line of Credit program. This program provided 11 small contractors that are unable to access financing through banks and other traditional financial institutions with a line of credit. These contractors were successful in 65 jobs being retained and 21 additional jobs being created. Furthermore, 86% of businesses were able to improve their business revenue by 10%.
LifeWise STL: Economic Wellness Programs
The LifeWise Economic Mobility Programming provides financial coaching services, match funding and asset building programs for a total of 680 beneficiaries. The Economic Wellness Program will create approximately $803,100 in savings that were not there before, increasing the participant’s economic well-being as a result of participation in activities to increase their financial literacy, supportive financial positive behavior change, and provide access to financial products.
North Grand Neighborhood Services: Garfield Property
This funding supported the renovation of 1 property in an effort to decrease the vacant buildings and nuisance properties in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood.
NPower Missouri: Tech Fundamentals Program
This is a 3rd year of support for the Tech Fundamentals Program that provides technical training skills, professional development, social support, job placement, and lifetime access to an active and supportive alumni network for approximately 100 participants in St. Louis, MO. This program aims to have 85% of graduates obtain full-time employment earning an average of $19/hour.
Early Childhood, Youth & Teens’ Education & Social Development
Elevate St. Louis: Developmental Relationships
Funding for the mentoring component of Elevate that will provide support 4-5x a month for 70 students at McCluer High School. This program is focused on helping 100% of their youth graduate from high school and complete a post-secondary education plan.
Finally Safe: Life Enrichment
This provided support to the literacy and mentorship programming for 55-65 at-risk youth that aims to decrease the number of individuals reading below grade level from 68% to 43%.
Girls in the Know: School-Based Empowerment Workshop Series
The Empowerment Workshop Series provides education and mentorship to 700 girls ages 9-13 years old in 30 schools in St. Louis. This program aims to increase their understanding of empowerment, changes occurring in our bodies, and how to identify a trusted adult. Long-term this mentorship hopes to decrease drop-out rates, teen pregnancy and risky behaviors.
Junior Achievement: Whole School Project
This support provided financial literacy programming for 1,600 low to moderate income students focused on business, economic and personal financial concepts to encourage achievement of goals and to prepare students for future success. In 2023, 91% of participants stated that Junior Achievement helped them in school and life, with 93% stating they believe they can create their own future.
LifeWise STL: LifeWise Academy
LifeWise Academy is a program for high schoolers focused on preparing them for graduation and post-secondary education through academic support and tutoring, FAFSA & scholarship prep, college visits, and alumni support. This year’s LifeWise Academy aims to improve 75% of youth in 1 course grade, maintain or show gains in literacy skills for 75% of youth, and have 95% of seniors accepted into post-secondary education or work force programming.
Ready Readers: Storytime Program
Storytime Program provides weekly story times to 1000 classrooms and 15,000 children ages 0-5 years old. This program aims for 80% of 3-6 year old children to meet or exceed one or more of the age appropriate developmental milestones.
St. Louis Public Schools Foundation: Educator Lifecycle Project
The Educator Lifecycle Project is a 4-component program aimed at increasing staff satisfaction & retention, and in turn, increasing student attendance and academic achievement. The focus of this program is to increase teacher retention at these schools by 10-20%, increase student attendance by 5-10%, and increase reading proficiency growth by 2.5-10%.
Tabernacle Community Development Corporation: Operational Support
This funding provided operational support to the impactful work that Tabernacle CDC is doing in North St. Louis.
The Bailey Foundation: Future Leaders of Tomorrow – Professional Development Program for Youth
The Future Leaders of Tomorrow Academy is a 12-week program that provides middle and high schoolers with comprehensive financial literacy, leadership development, and personal development opportunities. This year they aim to expand the Future Leaders of Tomorrow Academy from serving 25 students to 65 students and for at least 80% of participants to successfully transition to post-secondary education, employment, or career advancement.
The SoulFisher Ministries: Educate Now to Achieve Later (ENAL) Afterschool Program
Educate Now to Achieve Later is an afterschool program for 360 students at 6 schools in the Riverview Gardens School District and 2 summer camp sites, focused on tutoring to improve academic levels. The goal of this program is to help students have a two-grade level improvement in core subjects, such as Reading, Math & Science.
Train Up a Child: Operation Youth Build
Operation Youth Build provides tutoring for 1000 students in St. Louis City to improve their math, reading, science & writing by at least one grade level.
Turn the Page STL: Literacy Infusion in Summer Camp Programs
This provided support for 8 organizations to provide 10 summer camp sites with literacy infused summer programming for a total of 671 children. This infusion of literacy resulted in 56% of participants improving their literacy skills and 3% maintaining their literacy skills. There was a 41% decline in literacy skills, contrast to the typical 99% of students declining in the summer.
Unleashing Potential: Reinstitute Swimming Lessons
This provided YMCA certified swimming lessons to 60 summer campers ages 8 years and older.
W.A.Y. (Watering Advancing Youth) Center: Summer STREAM
This support helped to launch the Summer STREAM pilot program that will provide 40 children with 2 weeks of summer camp activities focused on Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts & Math. This camp aimed to increase literacy skills, introduce financial literacy, and teach fundamental scientific principals in kinetic energy and robotics. After camp, 86% of campers shared a heightened interest in pursuing STEM related subjects in their future studies.
Wyman Center: Wyman Leaders – Tracing the long-term impact of a youth leadership program
This funding supported the Wyman Center as they complete their Outcomes Research on the Wyman Leaders programming, evaluating 500 alumni that graduated from high school between 2006 and 2016.
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