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SLU Hosting Regional Neighborhoods Conference

03/06/2025

Saint Louis University will be hosting the Regional Neighborhoods Conference on Saturday, March 8. The conference, held in the Busch Student Center Wool Ballrooms from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., includes breakfast and lunch, three panel presentations, a performance by the Story Stitchers, and an opportunity to network with a variety of nonprofit organizations, vendors, and community initiatives.   

SLU’s Center for Social Action and the Saint Louis Association of Community Organizations (SLACO) are sponsoring the event. Bobby Wassel, Ph.D., director of the Center for Social Action will give the campus welcome.  

The Regional Neighborhoods Conference is St. Louis’ premier event for assisting grassroots organizations learn how to run an effective neighborhood association in addition to presenting plans and initiatives that offer new ways to understand the region and new hope for successful initiatives. As a result of attending and participating in previous conferences, attendees have:

  1. Developed comprehensive programs that have empowered its member organizations to form collaborative efforts designed to bridge the gap in understanding the differences among people and how residents can positively impact their communities.
  2. Have been exposed to the crux of the issues that residents from different communities face and are compelled to initiate conversations with public policy decision-makers that ultimately will bring about change.
  3. Learned how to facilitate the process of convening people from different communities to form strategic alliances and communicate and fellowship with residents which empowers them to become advocates and spokespersons in conversations with elected officials and policy-making entities.

Interested participants can register for the conference online.  

The Center for Social Action is offering scholarships for students to participate. Contact Leah Sweetman for additional information.

SLACO is a coalition of neighborhood associations in the metropolitan area. Each neighborhood group addresses the needs and concerns of its residents. While the depth and severity of problems facing neighborhoods vary, many challenges are shared by almost all of our neighborhoods. SLACO has been addressing a broad range of issues related to strengthening neighborhoods throughout its 45-year history.