New Northside Missionary Baptist Church’s Family Life Center has served the community in north St. Louis for over 20 years, but the space now has new occupants to continue the mission of service.
Hundreds recently gathered at the newly renovated 36,000-square-foot brick building on Goodfellow Boulevard in North Pointe for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour of the Northside Movement Center, which now serves as headquarters for the holistic legal advocacy firm ArchCity Defenders and the social services organization Action St. Louis.
The grand opening was hosted on Friday, but ArchCity Defenders moved from its downtown office and into the space in early January.
Lacretia Wimbley / St. Louis Public Radio
Lacretia Wimbley / St. Louis Public Radio
New Missionary Pastor Rodrick Burton took to the podium Friday just before doors were opened for a tour. He said decades ago the center was a grocery store before it was used for ministry, adding that his predecessor Bishop Willie Ellis Jr. had a vision to keep the church in the city, even as other churches closed or moved.
The sanctuary for New Missionary Baptist Church is located a few minutes up the street from its former family life center. Various organizations, including the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment, previously used the center to provide summer jobs for the community. City courts also used the building to give offenders second chances through community service hours.
“There was many times when myself and Carlotta was sitting in this building, and we were just thinking that we wish that more could be done for this community,” Burton said, speaking of his wife. “God answered prayers, and now Action St. Louis and ArchCity Defenders are going to be taking this facility to a greater level to do the vision that bishop had.”
That greater level looks like community organizing and legal services being rendered under the same roof. And there’s also enough space for community events.
The remodeled building features a large kitchen area; a full-size, carpeted gym; small, medium and large spaces equipped for meetings, workshops and training; wellness areas; and single and family restrooms.
Action St. Louis Executive Director Kayla Reed, noted the 10-year-old organization is honored to continue its call to the north side of St. Louis at the facility. The movement center has 21 rooms, all named after historically Black neighborhoods in St. Louis — including the Mill Creek Gym; Jeff-Vander-Lou training rooms; the Ville, Greater Ville, College Hill, O’Fallon and Fairground conference rooms.
“These names are not symbolic,” Reed said. “They are sacred. They remind us who this space is for. They remind us who we are accountable to.”
Lacretia Wimbley / St. Louis Public Radio
Lacretia Wimbley / St. Louis Public Radio
Journey to the new space
ArchCity Defenders and Action St. Louis began looking for spaces in 2021, group leaders said.
They began exploring the family center space in 2023 after viewing several other options in north city. The two groups officially acquired the building in January 2024 and together formed a partnership through a nonprofit called the Northside Center for Power and Transformation.
Construction and rehab of the building cost roughly $7 million. Leaders from Action St. Louis and ArchCity Defenders say they intend to raise $15 million through a capital campaign, led by the Friends of Northside, to help cover costs. At least $5 million of that will be allocated to an operating endowment to sustain the property’s ownership and maintenance.
Blake Strode, executive director of ArchCity Defenders, thanked numerous strategy and construction partners. He said the efforts are worth it to continue helping those who are often left without resources, support or representation.
Lacretia Wimbley / St. Louis Public Radio
Lacretia Wimbley / St. Louis Public Radio
ArchCity, along with Action St. Louis and other community partners over the past decade, has led campaigns that led to the closure of the city’s former jail known as the Workhouse. They’ve created a city Reparations Commission and helped mobilize resources for those impacted by natural disasters, like last year’s fatal tornado.
Strode said the new office is more than just a building.
“The space you are about to enter is a love letter to St. Louis,” Strode said. “It’s a love letter to the north side. It’s a love letter to the people and communities in this region that have been neglected, that have been overlooked and that have been counted out.
“It takes a lot of resources to do a project like this, so I want to thank our lending partners, our partners on the new market tax credits, as well as our incredibly generous donors and funders who believed in this vision.”
