The Opportunity Center
This property is located at 4265 N. 20th Street in the Hyde Park neighborhood. The building is approximately 5000 square feet with retail space below and currently there are two vacant apartments above.
The Opportunity Center will serve as...
* The Sun Ministries Headquarters
* A Coffee/Ice Cream Shop
* A Training Center
* A Retail Incubator
* The Mission Store retail location
Sun Ministries is committed to serving the residents of Hyde Park. We will express this commitment by relocating our offices from O'Fallon, Missouri to Hyde Park. This will allow our staff to work where the focus of our efforts is taking place. The presence of our office will allow us to assist start-up businesses in the area with common office services, helping to reduce start up costs.
The Coffee and Ice Cream Shop
This business venture will give us operating income as well as an employment opportunity to re-introduce people into the work force. It will work closely with the Narrow Gate, offering a place for those that were once homeless to re-enter the work environment. Summer Interns will provide volunteer labor as a part of their internship as a way to get to know the residents of the neighborhood. This type of facility is absent from the community so it will not compete with or conflict with existing businesses.
Training Center
Space will be utilized for training initiatives serving the community. These training services will provide a wide range of educational opportunities. The center seeks to offer classes on small business operation and development, financial management, and product or service development. Sun Ministries will also offer technical classes to those looking to learn a skill that can be turned into a service business. These might include carpet cleaning, chimney sweeping, janitorial services, etc... Sun Ministries' volunteers will be encouraged to utilize the space to offer tutoring in such subjects as math, science, or foreign languages. Those with artistic or musical talent will be encouraged to cultivate the arts among the
youth of the neighborhood by offering lessons or starting writers groups. The goal of the Opportunity Center is to come along side the members of the community and empower them to succeed financially in their gifts, talents, and passions.
The Mission Store
The Mission Store began in 2007 as a way to help alleviate the oppression of poverty among African widows and orphans. The Mission Store purchases products from widows working through partner ministries in poor areas around the world. The Mission store then sells the items in America and sends a portion of the proceeds back to the ministries that are working with the women. These partner ministries then use the money to help the widows earn a living and to care for and educate orphans. These women often face prostitution as the only way to earn money once they are widowed. The Mission Store helps them to sell their hand-made goods in new markets and earn a wage without feeling the pressure to turn to prostitution. The Mission Store currently purchases products from Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Thailand through our partner ministries. Since its inception, the Mission Store has operated through home parties and craft shows. The Opportunity Center will become the new home of the Mission Store. With the addition of a brick and mortar retail location, the operation will be able to expand its scope and reach to include locally made products from missionaries working in America.
Retail Incubator
The retail section of the Opportunity Center will also serve as a retail incubator space. It will provide an opportunity for local residents to display and sell their products without the expense of long-term leases or the burden of staffing the store. The shop will operate on a consignment basis and the educational segment of the Opportunity Center will help to develop the products and the people to their full potential.
The property we have chosen is architecturally significant. This property has been unoccupied for over 15 years and is currently owned by the city of St. Louis' Land Reutilization Authority. We believe that saving and restoring this property will be a major benefit to the Hyde Park Neighborhood for many years to come. This is a beautiful property with high visibility in the area. Restoring this property and using it to bring this level of community empowerment to Hyde Park will benefit the community physically, economically and emotionally.