103 / 150
A
dvancing
T
he
K
ingdom
: K
ingdom
H
ouse
100
individuals raised $250,000 and an
equal amount was drawn from the
Building and Endowment Funds.
Continuing the tradition dating back
to the early days of the settlement,
different programs designed to keep
school-aged children busy during the
summer were outlined at the Women’s
Board May meeting. These activities
included:
Vest-Pocket
– playgrounds;
Enablers
– training for young girls in
the art of housekeeping, cooking and
babysitting;
Meals on Wheels
– to
help elderly people who are unable
to cook for themselves;
Educational
Day Camp
;
Raft Project
– give young
people new interests – a chance to play
games and go on trips;
Filling Station
Training program
– 20 young boys
are training to be station attendants;
Operation Paint Brush
– giving
young men a chance to learn a trade;
Tutoring in Typing and Shorthand –
will continue through the summer with
college students as instructors. Programs
of Kingdom House are becoming
more and more educational training &
employment, rather than just programs
to keep the youth off the streets.
Many Counselors from High School
are helping with the children thru the
summer...
44
By October of 1969, the two old
buildings were completely razed. The
Day Care program was so successful,
for the first time, a waiting list had been
created.
By the early 70s, the racial tension
seems to either have subsided, or those
who were resistant to change had moved
away or were not participating. In 1972
the Board of Directors was reorganized
as a Missouri not-for-profit corporation.
This ended a 70-year-old connection
with the St. Louis Mission and Church
Extension Society of which William
Sloan, founder of Kingdom House, had
once been President. This new Board
specifically called for representatives of
the local community to be members.
Just prior to his retirement, Ralph
Koeppe was interviewed by the
St. Louis
Globe-Democrat
.
B
A
P
hotos
:
A:
A Golden Ager celebrates
the new building
B:
Bishop Eugene Frank of
the Eastern Missouri United
Methodist Conference laying
the cornerstone
“T
here were
days
when
R
alph
J. K
oeppe
would wince when
people
asked
, ‘H
ave
you
been
able
to
do
anything
to
change
the neighborhood
?’