Beyond Housing is determined to revitalize North St. Louis’ 24 communities

by Christy Marshall / photography by Kate Munsch

The Garfield Elementary School in Pine Lawn tells a story of transformation that extends far beyond its weathered brick walls. Built in 1937 and designed by architect William Ittner, the building now houses the offices of Beyond Housing, an organization that's proving comprehensive community development can work — if you're willing to think big, get creative and take the long view.

Chris Krehmeyer at the Beyond Housing headquarters.

Chris Krehmeyer explains the purpose and function of the organization. Video from KTVI-FOX 2.

When Beyond Housing bought this building along with five other vacant school properties for just under $3 million over a decade ago, they weren't just acquiring real estate. They were making a declaration about the power of anchor institutions and the importance of preserving community assets, even when — especially when — those communities are struggling.

"We didn't exactly have a plan about what we were going to do," admits Chris Krehmeyer, president-CEO of Beyond Housing. "But this one, we said, ‘We'd love to turn this into our office.’"

What Beyond Housing has built since then represents one of the most comprehensive community development efforts in the country — a model that refuses to see housing, education, health, economic development and civic infrastructure as distinct and separate challenges.

Beyond Housing's name captures their fundamental philosophy. While housing remains central to their work — they now manage 650 homes across the Normandy Schools Collaborative area — the non-profit recognized that sustainable community change requires addressing the interconnected web of factors that shape where and how people live.

"Everything is interrelated and connected," Krehmeyer says. "There's not a housing solution that will fix everything. It's not a job solution that will fix everything. It's not a health solution that will fix everything. It's all the things that make up a healthy community, a healthy space."

This linked systems approach has guided Beyond Housing's work across 24 municipalities in what was originally the Normandy Schools Collaborative boundary. Their organization's full name — 24:1 — reflects this: 24 communities working toward one collective vision.

Beyond Housing's housing portfolio is representative of their comprehensive approach. They've built over 300 single-family homes, rehabilitated several hundred more for rental or homeownership and upgraded 1,500 owner-occupied homes, primarily for senior citizens living in modest post-World War II bungalows.

The senior home rehabilitation program exemplifies their linked systems thinking. Many elderly residents in these communities raised families in homes they can no longer afford to maintain. Without intervention, those properties deteriorate and are eventually abandoned, contributing to neighborhood blight.

Beyond Housing invests $20,000 to $30,000 per home in new roofs, windows, HVAC systems, electrical and plumbing upgrades. The work accomplishes multiple goals simultaneously: it allows seniors to age in place safely, increases property values throughout the neighborhood, prevents future abandonment and strengthens the tax base that supports schools and public safety.

"When you invest in the production of new housing, build them new or rehab them, guess what it does? It improves the tax base because property values go up," Krehmeyer explains. "And when you improve the tax base, where does most of that money go? To public education. What's the second place it goes? Public safety."

Perhaps Beyond Housing's most innovative work involves their partnership with McBride Homes and the Community Impact Network to create new homeownership opportunities. The challenge is straightforward: in struggling communities, developers can't sell homes for what they cost to build, making development financially impossible.

Beyond Housing solved this problem by taking on the front-end costs and complications. They acquire properties, clear titles, handle municipal bureaucracy and prepare lots for construction. Then they give builders the prepared lots, eliminating much of the financial risk that makes development unfeasible. The sale proceeds from the home go back to McBride.

The results are striking. On a block in Pagedale where Beyond Housing's rental properties were assessed at around $120,000, a McBride-built home sold (in a day) for $250,000. Beyond Housing has 50 more parcels in preparation for similar development.

Beyond Housing’s Pagedale, MO presence. Video from KTVI-TV FOX 2.

"We didn't ask McBride to come here and lose money," notes Beyond Housing's leadership. "We said, ‘Is there a way we can make this work?’"

Beyond Housing's education work also illustrates their comprehensive approach. With 15 staff members embedded full time in Normandy schools, they provide both direct services and coordination of all wraparound support services.

Their Match Savings program has sent nearly 500 students to college or trade school. Students and families save a dollar; Beyond Housing matches it with three for post-secondary education. The organization boasts 150 college graduates — 15 with master's degrees, one PhD working on his medical residency and their first law school graduate from Washington University.

But money alone doesn't ensure success. The BH staff builds long-term relationships with students and families, providing college visits, ACT preparation, Federal Student Aid assistance and ongoing support throughout college. Their 75 percent persistence rate — the percentage of students who complete their programs — far exceeds national averages for similar income groups.

The other 13 Beyond Housing staff members serve as family engagement liaisons, providing crisis intervention and basic needs support. They maintain offices in every school building, offer food for hungry students, provide school uniforms and operate washers and dryers so families can do laundry. According to Krehmeyer, each year they interact with 80 percent of the student body.

Beyond Housing’s Freedom School program, based on curriculum from the Children's Defense Fund, serves 180 children across three sites during an eight-week summer session. The program traces its roots to the Freedom Summers of the 1960s, emphasizing literacy through authors and stories. College students from the community serve as "Servant Leaders" — role models who receive training at author Alex Haley's Farm in Tennessee. Former Freedom School participants have returned years later as entrepreneurs in Beyond Housing's small business programs, creating full-circle success stories that demonstrate the long-term power of early intervention and community connection.

"There's no school district that can both do the pedagogy of teaching and learning each and every day and tackle the multitude of issues that kids and families face each and every day," Krehmeyer says.

Beyond Housing's economic development work centers on the intersection of Page and Ferguson in Pagedale, where they've created a commercial district that serves both practical needs and community-building functions. Basically, they’ve built a small town.

Their grocery store operated successfully for 11 years, reaching nearly $5 million in annual sales before corporate ownership changes forced its closure. Beyond Housing is currently reviewing three potential operators to reopen the store. Around the corner, Beyond Housing has built a comprehensive commercial district, which includes a Midwest Bank Center branch that has become a $75-million operation — far exceeding the bank's expectations for success in this market.

The 241 Cinema offers first-run movies with $7.50 tickets — intentionally priced so community families can afford entertainment without leaving their neighborhood. The theater employs Normandy High School students enrolled in Beyond Housing's Match Savings program and serves as a community gathering space for events, parties and celebrations.

Carter Commons, named for longtime Pagedale mayor Mary Carter, houses a food hall with three restaurants and a pub, all operated by local entrepreneurs. The building also includes retail space, a community gym, event facilities and office space for employment services and culinary training programs.

Beyond Housing's commitment to economic development extends beyond real estate to nurturing local entrepreneurship through their Biz Start Smart program. In their third year, this 12-week small business incubator addresses a crucial gap in the entrepreneurship ecosystem — most business development resources aren't easily accessible from North St. Louis communities.

The program's selectivity demonstrates both demand and quality: from 91 applicants in 2025, Beyond Housing chose 10 entrepreneurs for intensive mentoring and coaching. Participants work on business plans, competitive analysis, marketing strategies, and pitch development while receiving practical support that removes barriers to success. Every participant receives $500 upon acceptance and an iPad with Square payment processing, providing both encouragement and essential business tools. The program culminates in a "mini Shark Tank" event where first place wins $4,000, second place $3,000 and third place $2,000.

"The energy and enthusiasm that comes from the entrepreneurs is just off the charts good," Krehmeyer says.

Beyond Housing’s Development in Pagedale.

Perhaps Beyond Housing's most surprising project involves their partnership with the Metropolitan Golf Foundation to revitalize the Normandie Golf Course. When the University of Missouri-St. Louis no longer maintained the facility, Beyond Housing helped arrange its lease and renovation financing.

The course is being redesigned by the legendary Jack Nicklaus, who's donating his design fee. When it reopens next year, the course will serve as a community asset that builds pride while maintaining affordable access for residents. The Western Golf Association, through its Evans Scholars program, will train and fund caddie positions at Normandie. Through this program, caddies will have potential opportunities for University of Missouri scholarships, along with various other programs that use golf as a vehicle for youth development and mentorship.

"It's not that this golf course or any golf course is going to magically make everything better," Krehmeyer says. "But it's an asset, it's pride in community."

In a world where St. Louis is separate and apart from St. Louis County, Beyond Housing has facilitated regional collaboration. Seventeen of the area's 24 municipalities recently created a transportation development district to collaboratively address infrastructure needs — streets, sidewalks, curbs and bridges. The organization has also helped facilitate the only two municipal mergers in St. Louis County history.

"This wringing our hands of ‘Oh my God! These municipalities! It's such a big problem,'" Krehmeyer says. "Our response is ‘Folks up here are working together.’"

Beyond Housing's health initiatives extend beyond their health facility partnerships. They employ community health workers focused on asthma and diabetes management, operate walking clubs, and work to connect residents with medical homes and preventive care.

Their commercial district includes Affinia Healthcare's urgent care and primary care facility, serving a population where the majority lack adequate insurance. BJC Behavioral Health provides mental health services for youth dealing with trauma and other challenges. The St. Louis County Children's Services Fund maintains offices in Beyond Housing's building, coordinating $40 million annually in mental health services for children throughout the county.

"There are no doctors up here. None. There just aren't," Krehmeyer says.

Obtaining financing is a challenge for every non-profit. Recognizing that stable housing represents the most significant social determinant of health, BJC helped finance the building of 36 new homes.

"They loaned us money at a below market rate," Krehmeyer says. "But for their dollars, we couldn't have done this project." BJC has since made substantial deposits with Midwest Bank Center specifically to support community reinvestment. Beyond Housing has also pioneered the concept of a "nonprofit IPO" — seeking investment capital with returns measured in human lives and community strength rather than financial dividends alone.

Beyond Housing's comprehensive approach addresses a fundamental failure in American poverty alleviation efforts. Despite billions spent nationally over decades, virtually no indicators of community wellbeing have improved in struggling areas.

"You do the same thing for 50, 60 years and it doesn't work, but you keep doing the same damn thing," Krehmeyer says.

Beyond Housing offers a different model: comprehensive community building that addresses multiple challenges simultaneously while building on community assets and resident leadership.

"We're confident that everything we're doing here is replicable," says Beyond Housing's leadership. "It's not rocket science. It's just really hard."

The 2025 tornado that devastated parts of North St. Louis largely spared Beyond Housing's service area, but it reinforced their understanding of community vulnerability and regional inequality.

"What the tornado did, again for the region, is lay bare in front of us, quite frankly, the great disparity between the haves and the have nots," Krehmeyer says. "The opportunity for us again is to ask as a region, ‘How once and for all are we going to invest in the people and places that have been left behind for so long?’"

Beyond Housing continues expanding their model. They're working to establish similar homeownership programs in Wellston, seeking additional housing development funding, and exploring how their comprehensive approach can be replicated in other like communities.

In the old Garfield Elementary School, past and future converge around Beyond Housing's vision of what's possible when organizations think beyond the box. The terrazzo floors still display their original nursery rhyme characters — Robin Hood, Tom Sawyer, Three Men in a Tub — but now they anchor an effort that requires adequate resources, patient capital, genuine community partnership, imagination and sustained commitment.

As Krehmeyer says, "It's the power of what's possible."

The Power of What’s Possible