For decades, the former Carter Carburetor manufacturing building just south of the Herber Hoover Boys and Girls Club stood as a toxic eyesore along Grand Avenue.
WeCollab was formed from community engagement and is led by residents from West End and Visitation Park with intention to avoid gentrification, lower crime, and raise the value of their neighborhoods.
âThe cohort itself was amazing. Just the people in there, the connection alone goes a long way. â Shavanna Spratt, Neighborhood Leadership fellow Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Even after nine months of leadership training through the Neighborhood Leadership Fellows, Shavanna Spratt says she still feels like an ordinary, everyday person. The difference now is sheâs prepared and ready to take action to make Ferguson a better place.Â
âI think that s what makes my situation even more special, because that s kind of where I am now, fighting for people, the everyday, average person, to speak up and be involved and to be encouraged to get in their communities and do some work,â Spratt said in an interview..