Individuals and organizations in St. Louis have a choice to make— either align with the desires of the few or join with thousands of people who want to ensure that St. Louis does not continue to disappear poor people and Black people to the remote, toxic, industrial edges of the City.
For decades, St. Louis operated a Medium Security Institution aka the Workhouse, known for barbaric and inhumane conditions. After years of public scrutiny and lawsuits, followed by advocacy led by the Close the Workhouse campaign, the City defunded its Workhouse operations in 2022. The administration then dedicated 150k for a committee to engage the public on what should become of the former jail and land, and after 18 months of hearing from 2,500 people –many who knew firsthand how horrific the Workhouse was – they shared their report findings with the City, including Mayor Tishaura Jones.
The report recommendations for onsite and offsite development stem from rounds of community engagement. Noting the environmental toxicity, physical isolation, and emotional trauma associated with the area, the report concludes this is not a suitable location for unhoused persons to reside. Suggestions for onsite development include an animal shelter, a place for solar energy, a prairie, or industrial use. Suggestions for offsite development call for resources like housing, healthcare, and youth programs.
But, in Spring 2024, the committee and the public learned that Mayor Jones had a secret plan all along, one that ignores and rebuffs the very community input she subsidized. Jones has proposed building tiny homes and relocating unhoused people to the polluted, barren edges of the City where cars speed and tractor trailers roar by. There are no sidewalks, no bus lines, and no grocery stores.
While the Jones Administration is on the right path by confirming the site will not be used as a jail or detention facility again; their proposal for our unhoused neighbors is not.
The Close the Workhouse campaign invites you to join the growing number of people and organizations who are demanding Mayor Jones:
1. Adopt the recommendations in the Re-envisioning the Workhouse Report
2. Fund the Memorial Resource Hub
3. Reparations for Workhouse survivors
The campaign will continue to remain vigilant of any attempts by the Jones’ administration to fund and/or implement this irresponsible and reckless plan, we ask that you join us in future calls to action.
In Solidarity,
Close the Workhouse Campaign
Instructions:
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