ST. LOUIS – North Grand Neighborhood Services (NGNS) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, marking two decades of transforming abandoned properties into affordable housing in north St. Louis.

Since its inception, NGNS has successfully rehabilitated more than 20 abandoned and nuisance properties into affordable housing units in north St. Louis.

“When we started in this neighborhood, the vacancy rate was about 55 percent in 2005,” said Joseph Feld, NGNS Board President. “Now, twenty years later, this is one of the last vacant properties in the three-block area where we work so its maybe less than 5 percent now,”

Currently, NGNS maintains six rental homes and three tiny houses for residents at below-market rates.

“It’s great. The residents are wonderful, we know them, they know us,” Feld said. “I truly value them they’re awesome people who are just trying to make a go of things.”

The organization is currently working on rehabilitating a home that was originally built in 1899.

“What we’re working on now is just getting everything cleared out here,” Feld explained. “Once we get all the demolition done, we can start the rebuild.”

For the NGNS, Saturdays are used for rehabilitating homes. Every other Saturday, the group focuses on maintaining the properties’ grass.

Volunteers like Dick Donahoe play a crucial role in keeping labor costs low, contributing their time and effort to the cause.

“What could be better than turning around a building like this that’s been derelict for a long time and having a really nice place for somebody to live,” Donahoe said.

Despite their successes, NGNS has faced challenges with theft, as their office has been broken into five times this year, resulting in the loss of tools and equipment.

“The past year specifically has been tough for us our office has been broken into five times since the beginning of the year, Feld said. “It’s taken us 20 years to accumulate all the tools and lawn mowers that we had and we did lose those in the various robberies.”

Despite setbacks, NGNS remains committed to revitalizing the North Side, with Feld expressing determination to overcome obstacles and continue their mission.

“This is just kind of a minor setback is how we look at it,” Feld said. “We’re going to continue to push forward and overcome any obstacles we have to.”