I. Jerome and Rosemary Flance Center Development Receives National Award for Financing and Community Collaboration

PLANS FOR LOCAL EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CENTER RECEIVE NATIONAL HONOR

Development project recognized for innovation in financing and community collaboration.

St. Louis, MO. April 24, 2013 – The I. Jerome and Rosemary Flance Early Childhood Education Center at Murphy Park (The Flance Center) has been selected
the winner of the National Development Council’s 2013 Academy Award for Creative Financing.  Plans for the Flance Center were presented at the National Development Council Academy conference in Washington DC on April 18, 2013.  Themed “Delivering Community Results in Difficult Times,” the conference rated development projects from communities nationwide and selected the Flance Center
as the winner for its ingenuity in financing structure and technique, and its strong community partner collaborations.

The National Development Council, through its NDC Academy, provides an annual forum for professionals in economic and housing development to share and learn about innovative community development projects, and to celebrate work underway in underserved communities nationwide. The Flance Center, named for local leaders
in health and education Dr. I. Jerome Flance and his wife Rosemary, is a highly anticipated addition to a St. Louis community that is already undergoing broad revitalization.  Located in the heart of the Murphy Park mixed-income community on the City’s north side, the Center will be flanked by the Cahill House senior living facility, the arts-integrated Jefferson Elementary School, and the federally qualified health center operated by Grace Hill.  Slated to open in early 2014, the Flance Center will provide a child-focused, center-based, income-integrated facility intended to offer exceptional care and education for 154 children aged 0-5 from a range of household incomes. 

The Flance Center is being developed with broad collaboration between experts in early childhood development and health, local community stakeholders, neighborhood leaders and residents who, facilitated by Urban Strategies, secured a financial investment of over $11 million for the Center.  Sources of funding for the project include: $5 million from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Capital Fund Education and Training Community Facilities Program (through the St. Louis Housing Authority), $3 million in New Markets Tax Credit equity through Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, and the remainder from corporate and private donors.

“We are honored to have been selected by other national leaders in community development for our work to build opportunity and positive outcomes for children and families, especially in St. Louis,” said Sandra Moore, President of Urban Strategies who accepted the award with developer McCormack Baron Salazar. “We are proud to offer this first-in-class resource to the St. Louis community.”

About the I. Jerome and Rosemary Flance Early Childhood Education Center at Murphy Park

The Flance Center is a child-focused, center-based, income-integrated facility intended to offer exceptional care and education for 154 children aged 0-5.  The Center is being developed in collaboration by Urban Strategies, the St. Louis Housing Authority, McCormack Baron Salazar, University City Children’s Center (UCCC), LUME Institute, and a host of local leaders and community stakeholders.  A nationally-acclaimed core curriculum developed by UCCC and early education thought leader, LUME Institute, will
focus on developing the emotional, social, cognitive and physical health of children from birth through age five.  In
addition, UCCC and LUME Institute will deliver relevant, up-to-date professional training and education to current and future providers of childcare from the surrounding community.

The Flance Center will be a 23,800 square foot LEED certified facility with 13 classrooms for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, including a 3-room health suite for onsite
immunizations and health screenings.  Brinkmann Constructors and MBE/Section 3 firm Simms Building Group serve as the general contractors on the project. 
Site work is already underway and construction is scheduled to take approximately ten months.  The Flance
Center is slated to open in early 2014.

About NDC

The National Development Council is one of the oldest national non-profit community and economic development organizations in the U.S.  It was founded in 1969
with one purpose:  increasing the flow of capital for investment, jobs and community development to underserved urban and rural areas across the country.  Since that time, NDC has worked with thousands of communities in every one of the 50 states and Puerto Rico, providing technical assistance, professional training, investment in affordable housing, small business
financing and direct developer services.  Our work has taken many forms, but we have kept pace with the needs of our constituents, adding new programs and services or updating old ones.  www.nationaldevelopmentcouncil.org

About Urban Strategies

Urban Strategies is a St. Louis-based not-for-profit corporation that specializes in human capital development, planning, and strategy implementation as a part of comprehensive neighborhood revitalization. Urban Strategies is engaged in large neighborhood redevelopment
initiatives in 22 communities in 10 major cities across the country. In several St. Louis communities, Urban Strategies leads in coordinating collaborative efforts to transform public and private systems and support strong, self-sustaining people, families and communities. www.urbanstrategiesinc.org

About St. Louis Housing Authority

The St. Louis Housing Authority is a federally funded agency, operating independently of city government. The agency, with its 90 employees, helps provide low and moderate-income public housing for more than 9,000 residents and clients in the City of St. Louis, and, through partner programs, offer residents opportunities to improve
their lives. www.slha.org

About McCormack Baron Salazar

McCormack Baron Salazar is a nationally-acclaimed leader of affordable urban housing development, with a mission to rebuild neighborhoods in central cities across the United States that have deteriorated through decades of disinvestment.  The firm has developed over 16,500 units of housing in 36 urban markets totaling more than $2.5 billion in development investment. The firm’s headquarters are located in St. Louis, Missouri.  www.mccormackbaron.com

About University City Children’s Center (UCCC)

UCCC is a United Way-funded agency that provides innovative, quality care and education to a racially, culturally, developmentally and socio-economically diverse population of children between the ages of six-weeks and six-years in a nurturing environment that provides supportive services to families.  Through its mission, UCCC seeks to create a new paradigm in early childhood education to serve as a model for creating systemic change for children and families. 
www.uccc.org

About LUME Institute

The LUME Institute was conceptualized by UCCC in 2008 to serve as a catalyst for best practices in early childhood education concepts.  The LUME Institute works with educators and other industry leaders to research, develop, enhance and replicate successful early childhood models in their respective centers and in broader communities.
Through its mission, the LUME Institute seeks to replicate its model and foster systems and a culture originating from a shared passion, creative innovation, and an entrepreneurial spirit. www.lumeinstitute .org