Dream Builders 4 Equity

4 pillars of community development

Dream Builders 4 Equity is creating a world in which all communities have the courage to dream, the skills to build, and the resources to own their future. 

We believe communities thrive when youth, residents, and businesses have access to resources and opportunities. These 4 pillars - youth, residents, businesses, and real estate - make up our equitable development model, which will transform minority communities across the country. 

We put local youth, residents, and businesses first 

Our youth-centered, hyper-local model will transform North St. Louis neighborhoods into economically sustainable and socially engaged communities. 

We employ local minority youth and contractors, putting money and equity back in the pockets of people within the community. While employed at Dream Builders 4 Equity, historically underserved youth develop skills needed to succeed academically and professionally. They'll be rewarded with equity and ownership in their community. 

We ensure our development efforts fight current resident displacement by providing renovations for seniors and grant support against property tax increases that disproportionately affect minority residents. 

Our goal 

Our goal is to tackle the vacant home epidemic plaguing St. Louis by doing large scale community-led development projects. By reinvesting in neighborhoods that have been neglected and divested in, we believe these communities can become thriving communities where residents have the opportunity to live out their full potential. 

In the next 5 years we will reinvest in the Hyde Park neighborhood, a north St. Louis area that's been underserved for decades. 

But we won't stop there. 

This isn't just a solution for St. Louis - it's a model that can be replicated across the country in cities with the greatest wealth disparities between minority and white neighborhoods. Rebuilding Hyde Park will fuel our ability to go into other underserved St. Louis neighborhoods and eventually other cities.

Your investment will grow beyond Hyde Park: It's the foundation we'll build upon to fight racial disparities across the country. 

Our community impact goals 

1. Employ 250 city youth 
2. Rehab 25 homes to be sold to first time homeowners 
3. Provide 25 Hyde Park seniors with free home renovations totaling $250k 
4. $375k in scholarship funds for students 
5. $360k in youth employment wages 
6. $100k in publication and book sales for youth 
7. $4M in revenue for minority contractors
8. $1.6M in construction labor wages
9. 250 living-wage jobs created as a direct result of our construction