Beyond Housing Once and for ALL

It took almost six months of staying in Belize to realize that in St. Louis, Missouri USA, we don’t have it so bad here after all.

In the small town of San Ignacio with an estimated 20,000 people where school teachers earn $400/month, you wonder how you could survive. In St. Louis, that won’t lease you a studio apartment let alone pay for electricity or food. The average person in Belize earns less than $5,000 per year compared to $50,000 in the States. And what seems to be surprisingly awesome is that the Belizeans are some of the kindest, happiest people you will ever meet.

Where would you live if you could?

Now if you were going to choose between living in Belize or living in St. Louis, which one would you choose? Each location certainly has its advantages. But as the late Jim Rohn would describe in life, you are not a tree. You are free to roam the earth as you wish. Some people do not have the choice to move. They are poor financially, intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally. They grow up knowing what their parents or guardians told them to do. They model their parent’s behavior (if they have parents) or find role models outside the home that shapes their destiny.?

There is a distinct love for the place from where you grew up no matter how broken home may be. Your school. Your church. Your residence. These locations are where you see the same people every day. You grow an appreciation for those relationships because, without them, you wouldn’t be able to add meaning to your life unless you prioritize values such as power, social status, and material things.

No Man is an Island. No Man Lives Alone.

In Belize, it would be extremely difficult to survive if the people in the community if it were not supportive of one another. This includes its leaders in government, business, schools, and Church and parents. Sure, I witnessed the same conflict of values and interests as business leaders do in St. Louis. However, Belize has only had its sovereign independence for 40 years. It still requires major economic investment in its infrastructure to provide appropriate opportunities for its citizens while protecting its natural resources, cultural diversity, and foreigners who are not mindful of its people.

The city of St. Louis was incorporated in 1823, 158 years prior.

Chris Krehmeyer, CEO of Beyond Housing, has a mission to strengthen families and transform communities to create a stronger, more equitable, and prosperous St. Louis. He is one of the most seasoned non-profit executives in the region and has an impeccable reputation for delivering results, I believe his perspective on how to attack the core issues the region faces is not only on point, it possesses the reality check many leaders in the St. Lous community need to hear should it want to become a catalyst for humanity.

I’ve heard countless talks about the “State of the Community” in my almost 19 years serving the real estate industry. Many of them boast big numbers, are filled with pride, and do not honestly address their community challenges earnestly. However, Chris was very present to the reality of the situation. He was real. You couldn't argue much work still needed to be done.

Chris has helped Beyond Housing become the top community development organization in the country and has the largest community development in the region under his leadership. He's relatable. He's responsive. And he is resourceful in creating better opportunities for others starting with nothing. That's a Level 5 leader under the John Maxwell standard. We can all learn a lot from Chris.

Chris shared...

“We have seen significant investment in St. Louis over the last several years - significant economic development including Cortex, major upgrades to cultural institutions, new convention center development, new soccer team and stadium, and more. These are great things. However, we have yet to begin investing in a way that increases our region’s core challenges effectively. Until we do so, we will continue to build on a foundation in need of significant repair.”

What are St. Louis's core challenges?

What is being done to address the issues?

How do we address this effectively?

The Once and For All model recognizes that transforming under-resourced communities is not simple, it’s complex. It’s complex because humans are complex. When you examine how other people work, live, and play in other countries around the world, you could say we are doing pretty well or have a really long way to go. What I know in my heart and from those who have invested themselves in the St. Louis community is little progress has been made. It is time for leaders to learn to work together.

Your title doesn't make you a leader.

When you step into a role to lead others as a corporate executive, a board member, a director, an administrator, a teacher, or a parent, are you really ready to lead?

Are you ready to set aside your biases, prejudices, and self-interests?

Are you humble enough to admit to your mistakes?

People possess a strong conviction for their values. A person’s values represent who they are however misguided you think they may be.

I think we can agree that we can learn to get along. We can enjoy where we work, live, and play AND enroll others in the opportunity to join us. However, it’s very difficult to build a home on sand. I learned about new construction selling real estate on Ambergris Caye.

Attitude reflects leadership, Captain.

In the movie “Remember the Titans” a 1994 movie starring Denzel Washington, there are many leadership lessons that could benefit our leaders in St. Louis. This movie was about a high school football team who experience racial integration for the first time. You could see how players, parents, and coaches handled conflict with one another. In the beginning, it wasn’t pretty.?Players of the opposite race were not blocking for one another. Coaches were undermining each other behind each other’s backs.

There was a defining moment when one of the best defensive leaders stops playing and the team Captain of the opposite race asks why. He replied, “Honesty is not up on your priority list. Attitude reflects leadership, Captain!”

After an insanely difficult season filled with hatred among one another in the community surrounding the integration, the team finally won the state championship. More importantly, adversaries became lifelong friends.

Challenges and Opportunities for St. Louis Leaders

It’s hard to look in the mirror and admit to your shortcomings. For a leader, it’s even harder to take action when you are in a role where you could be fired, voted out, or prevented from doing what you were tasked to do.

While there is no definite moment when you say "St. Louis has won the Championship", I believe there are milestones when you see St. Louis has overcome its own challenges as a region. Undoubtedly, Coach Chris has been racking up the wins. If he's not in the Hall of Fame this year, he will be next year.

It all starts at home

We each can do our part and it starts at home. It's my personal philosophy that when I'm gone tomorrow or 50 years from today, I will have made my son's life better than mine, and then when my Dad arrived as a poor immigrant from India to the United States in 1962.

The sacrifices we make now for ourselves don't compromise our own personal values. They offer the opportunity for us to make the place where we live better for humanity. You certainly can't grow a community when you cannibalize one another to justify your own values. You grow a community when you learn to accept the whole is greater than each of its parts.

This is Beyond Housing.