ST. LOUIS — The Urban League and Better Family Life are stepping up their efforts to fight crime and unemployment in Saint Louis.
Save Our Sons (S.O.S) opened up their new headquarters at 1330 Aubert on Monday afternoon.
The new headquarters is in the middle of Police Chief John Hayden’s rectangle and will help reduce crime by offering another avenue for income so they won’t be tempted by the streets.
More than 450 men have gone through the S.O.S program which aims to get more people out of the streets and into the workforce.
As a result of being employed some people aren’t in the street anymore,” Waheed Muhamin said.
“Now they are taking care of their families. As a result of that, now people feel better about you. Now your community looks at you as an asset and this can spread. Ultimately you can build your community back up. It's better to fix young men than trying to fix broken men.”
The program helps young men, especially African-American men, with secondary education opportunities, job skill training, career skills and professional work ethic.
"It's helped me a lot, in my personal and professional life,” Muhamin said.
“I still have friends in outside projects that I'm working on and I can call them. I can trust they will be quality because of what they went through in the program with me. Also, when I want to advance in a job I can use them as a reference and I know they will give me a quality reference.
Community leaders will share a few quick words at the beginning of the opening ceremonies. Light refreshments will be served for guests.
Those interested in their services can call 314-626-6677.
