Save the Date – 12^th Annual Give STL Day Happens Thursday, May 8, 2025

On a single day in May, the St. Louis region comes together to collectively support over one thousand local nonprofits. On Give STL Day, every St. Louisan has the opportunity to join their friends, neighbors, and coworkers by making a donation to the nonprofits that do so much for our community.

Give STL Day was created by the St. Louis Community Foundation in 2014. In its 11 year history, Give STL Day has:

• Raised more than $34 million for thousands of local nonprofits.
• Ignited the spirit of charitable giving in more than 160,000 donors.
• Generated more than $11 million in matching funds.
• Awarded more than $1.9 million in cash prizes to participating organizations.

FSBH has participated in this highly effective fundraiser for the past decade, raising more than $410,000.  We hope readers interested in our cause will consider donating that day once again.  This campaign fulfils about 1/3 of our annual budgetary needs.  Right now we have $19,500 in matching gifts available to match your gift.  As little as $10 can be contributed and get a 100% match!

The direct link for giving is this: givestlday.org/firststepbackhome.  Early Giving will begin on April 23, 2025.

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20 Year Review of FSBH

First Step Back Home (FSBH) is a Christian ministry that was founded in 2005 to provide services to the homeless and others who need assistance in becoming independent and self-sufficient or to prevent impending homelessness. Since then we have provided various types of assistance for 12,500 people.

We are a 501c3 non-profit that serves in St. Charles, Lincoln and Warren Counties of Missouri. FSBH is dependent upon the generosity of others for our operations and that includes individuals, churches, businesses, and community organizations.

The ministry is performed within a Christian context because it is our belief that it is Jesus Christ who has allowed for our ministry to be successful and who guides our thinking and beliefs. The following is a combined report highlighting our activity in 2024 as well as a summary of what we have accomplished since inception in 2005, and a vision for what the future might hold.

2025 President’s Report

 

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Poverty Facts in Our Region

• The population of St. Charles, Lincoln and Warren Counties is 500,000 (2020).
• The number of people living below the poverty level of $21,000 is 15% or 75,000 in these three counties.
• The minimum wage, even after minimum wage increase, is equal to the poverty level income of $10/hr.
• A living wage for 1 adult is $13.72/hour. Unskilled, low-educated workers around here are lucky to make $9/hr. which is $10,000 less than a yearly living wage. (Resource – Missouri Living Wage Calculator)
• The definition of a living wage is the amount of income it takes to provide basic necessities for a person or family, which is food, clothes, housing, transportation, taxes, insurance and more. (Resource- State of Missouri definition)
• If you have kids it takes a big jump from there. The living wage for 1 adult and 1 child is $28.65/hr.; 1 adult and 2 kids is $34.97/hr. Obviously this is impossible for people to reach making a minimum wage.
• Most of our clients are single or a family with multiple children.
• In 2020, the Coordinated Entry central resource and data service for our region received 10,000 calls for help from the poor which are people making at or less than a living wage or homeless. This is the organization that sends us referrals on a daily basis.
• The State of Missouri has about the same averages. There are 6,126,452 people in our state, so 15% of that means there are more than 900,000 poor people in Missouri.
• This is not a good report for the richest nation in the world. We need more people and funding to help those in marginalized sectors have a decent life, by helping them receive the basic necessities of life here in the U.S.

THIS is the serious situation that First Step Back Home (FSBH) strives to address for the homeless and near-homeless in our region. FSBH does its absolute best, within its financial means, to help everyone who can prove that they are honestly trying to help themselves. We give ourselves to homelessness prevention and crisis intervention.