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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited APRIL 7 – 13, 2016
Vol. 88 No. 1 COMPLIMENTARY
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NGA to stay in STL Labor pledges to double federal inclusion goals By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Photo by Wiley Price
Mayor Francis G. Slay, U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, Gov. Jay Nixon and U.S. Senator Roy Blunt were among the elected officials who celebrated the NGA’s choice of North St. Louis for its new western headquarters on April 1.
Local and state elected officials gushed excitedly for more than an hour at a press conference on Friday, April 1 about the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s preliminary announcement to build its new $1.7 billion facility in North St. Louis.
“We won,” officials said repeatedly. “This is a great day for St. Louis and a shining example of what is possible when Missourians work together across regional and party lines for the good of their communities,” said Gov. Jay Nixon. In a hastily assembled press conference on March 31, when the news first leaked, Mayor Francis G. Slay credited the Metropolitan Clergy Coalition, St. Louis Regional Chamber, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The St. Louis American as “superheroes” for doggedly supporting the city’s effort to keep NGA. U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay also credited developer Paul McKee Jr. for assembling the land in North St. Louis that made the city’s bid possible. McKee and Bob Clark of Clayco prepared the initial proposal for the North St. Louis site. Nixon said that the competition was stiff, but that St. Louis – perhaps seen as the “underdog” – came out on top. The competitive edge did come with a considerable
See NGA, A16
Salute to Health
Addressing toxic stress Regional Health Commission is 2016 Health Advocacy Organization of the Year By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Sarah Woolfolk Edwards reacted with emotion when she saw her mother, Ida Goodwin Woolfolk, lying in state at St. Louis City Hall on Sunday, April 3. Walking with her Woolfolk’s niece, Danette Carter of Chicago, Illinois.
A life well lived St. Louis says goodbye to Ida Woolfolk By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American
n “She was a force of nature.” – Bishop Charles E. Blake
“Well done, Ida Goodwin Woolfolk,” the sign outside her lifelong church home of Kennerly Temple Church of God in Christ read. The space is usually reserved for scripture. This simple, profoundly appropriate statement was the message passers-by were met with from the moment the news of her sudden passing on Wednesday, March 23 at the age of 72 became public up through her final services this weekend. In a celebration of life that lasted two days, the community leader and educator was remembered in the same grand fashion with which she lived her life. Services began Saturday morning with a New Orleans-style second line processional through her Central West End neighborhood. The public portion (her Monday burial was private) concluded with
Woolfolk lying in state at the St. Louis City Hall Rotunda on Sunday afternoon. She is said to be the first to do so since the rotunda was built in 1905. “This is historic, and she most certainly deserved it,” Martin L. Mathews, co-founder and president emeritus of Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club, said as he prepared to pay his respects to Woolfolk on Sunday at City Hall. See WOOLFOLK, A6
Every year, 30,000 uninsured St. Louisans living in poverty get access to health care through the Gateway to Better Health program. Of those carrying “Gateway cards,” 50 percent have diabetes or hypertension – or both. “We are doing a good job of getting them into our medical centers when they’re sick,” said Rob Fruend, CEO of the St. Louis Regional Health Commission, which organizes and monitors the program. “But we started thinking – what if they didn’t n “The show up so sick in the first relationship place? And what’s driving that?” between The commission found trauma and that the root cause of these stress to conditions is often toxic stress impacting and trauma. “And we realized just physical how under-reported this is,” health Fruend said. is clear Addressing toxic stress and based on trauma is the next movement in public heath, Fruend said. research.” “It’s almost like when they discovered germ theory – Peter at the turn of the century or Sortino, when we figured out that chairman of smoking kills,” he said. “It’s the Regional that revolutionary. Toxic Health stress and trauma is the new Commission smoking in terms of how we are just figuring out how bad it is on your body and how poorly resourced we are in communities to address it.” Just before Ferguson erupted, the commission launched a campaign called Alive and Well STL to raise awareness about stress and trauma. Fruend said the commission had heard from community members that residents were so See SALUTE, A16