November

ASeatAtTheTable.org

2022

In This Issue

• GivingTuesday, Nov. 29
• Ferguson house residents
• Generations Deep book launch

• Congratulations Joe Lewis III
• New Governing Board members
• Advisory Board created

GivingTuesday is November 29

Early Donations Accepted!

Because two more young women will soon be moving into our Ferguson house, your GivingTuesday donations are needed more than ever. Your generosity helps us meet the educational/vocational, life & jobs skill, transportation, healthcare, counseling and spiritual developmental needs of our program participants. 

GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. 

Created in 2012, GivingTuesday was established as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past several years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. As one of our 2 annual fund-raising occasions, please consider giving to A Seat at the Table as part of your GivingTuesday donations!

Click HERE to learn of the impact A Seat at the Table has on the lives of our four Shaw neighborhood house residents...and why you should consider donating as part of your GivingTuesday efforts.

Click HERE to make a one-time donation or to schedule regular monthly donations of any amount.  This is a great way for you to take a seat at the table with us!  And, you don’t have to wait until Nov. 29 to donate.  All donations from now thru then go towards our GivingTuesday totals!

Ferguson house updates

In case you missed our many social media posts, our Ferguson house Host Parents, Claude and Debbie Bennett welcomed in their first women residents over the past few months, Leonda (Lee) Smith and Jamia Jones, along with Resident Mentor Samoa Asigau.

Lee is a freshman at Harris-Stowe State University, majoring in Business Management. Lee also works part-time at Lowe’s and in her spare time, loves to listen to music.  

Jamia, a junior majoring in Applied Visual Communications at UMSL, spends her free time reading, watching movies, singing and creating videos and art. 

As prayer ministry leader at One Family Church and Senior Scientist at a major international healthcare diagnostic company, Samoa is uniquely qualified to provide additional mentoring for our Ferguson house residents.

(Above left): Resident Mentor Samoa Asiqau, Resident Jamia Jones and Ferguson house parent Debbie Bennett attending CeCe Winans concert at Church on the Rock.
(Above right): Ferguson resident Leonda (Lee) Smith preparing dinner for a family meal.

Generations Deep book launch
benefitting A Seat at the Table

On Saturday evening, ASATT Board President, mental health therapist and author Gina Birkemeier hosted her Generations Deep book signing at the Undivided Wealth Management Experience Center in Chesterfield.  With the help of emcee Marc Cox, Gina shared her personal story and how it led her to write her best-seller book and new accompanying journal, both of which help readers identify and break the cycles of abandonment, abuse and trauma. Gina emphasized that this “cycle-breaking” relates so uniquely well to the mission of A Seat at the Table.  

Interviews with A Seat at the Table Shaw-neighborhood house parents (and founders) Bob & Chrissy Stergos, as well as Ferguson house parent Claude Bennett and Resident Mentor Samoa Asigau explored their reasons for participation. Additionally, Bob & Chrissy shared updates on current residents, plans for organizational growth…including recruitment of additional St. Louis-area “host parents” (to take in 1 young person into their existing home) as well as establishment of A Seat at the Table homes in other cities around the nation, starting with Cincinnati and Kansas City. 

If you are a Christian married couple interested in providing
a seat at YOUR table, please complete and submit an application which can be found HERE.

Congrats to Joe Lewis III

Well…we’ve come to that time when our first A Seat at the Table participant, Shaw house Resident Intern Joe Lewis III, is ready to transition out on his own into his first apartment.  Joe’s calming, mentoring presence will leave an indelible mark upon all at our first A Seat at the Table home. We are forever grateful for Joe’s many contributions, as he led by example in terms of challenging himself to an increasing number of “adulting” experiences, including considerable manual labor both inside and outside our Shaw neighborhood home to prepare it for our other three current residents living with Host Parents Bob and Chrissy Stergos.

You can help with Joe’s transition to his new apartment by either donating the household items that the typical bachelor would need for his first apartment to simply contributing funds via our website.  Be sure to select “Joe’s Apartment items” on the drop-down menu.

Welcome two new
Governing Board members

A Seat at the Table is thrilled to welcome Pastor David Hawkins and Tiffany Wild to the Governing board, joining current board members Gina Birkemeier (President), Carla Hayes (Secretary), Kate Sickles (Treasurer) and at-large members Bob and Chrissy Stergos. 

Pastor Hawkins, a founding Board member of A Seat at the Table, returns after a 2-year break while he was in the midst of a capital campaign for his church, Living the Word church in Collinsville, IL.  Born the youngest of 11 sons and one daughter, David knows more than most what it is to share one’s space…to provide others a seat at the table!  David received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his Master of Arts in Theology from Covenant Seminary. 

David’s passion for not letting any experience, good or bad, go to waste, led him to author his Amazon #1 best-seller Dips, Disruptions and Destiny, a guide to getting yourself out of what life got you into.

Tiffany Wild works as a mental health therapist at Chesterfield Counseling Associates after recently earning a Master of Arts in Counseling from Covenant Theological Seminary. Tiffany’s extensive nonprofit work includes 10+ years of Board tenure with Kidsmart, serving as Chairperson of Development and Operations during her Executive Committee term. Additional experience includes serving as a Youth Leader Volunteer at The Crossing church and well as a Point Woman Mentor at Firstlight.  

A business owner and entrepreneur at the likes of Eat Fit Go, Energy Partners in Conservation and Fortified Consulting, Tiffany brings a unique blend of business acumen and nonprofit experience to the A Seat at the Table board team.

A Seat at the Table
Advisory Board established

In addition to our Governing Board, A Seat at the Table has recently established an Advisory Board to gain even more input and advice from experienced business, civic, church, ministry, legal and nonprofit leaders.

Advisory Board members will meet approximately once per quarter with either Executive Director Bob Stergos or a member of the A Seat at the Table Governing board to discuss important organizational challenges and opportunities. They will each serve 3-year terms, renewable as their schedules permit.  Their input and influence will be of tremendous help to A Seat at the Table. Intial Advisory Board members are shown below, with an embedded link to their LinkedIn profile or other background articles.

John Alexander

Debbie & Claude Bennett

Wayne Crull

Eric Holland

Felice McClendon

Dustin Smith

Ronda & Jamarcus Smith

Pete Woods

The mission of A Seat at the Table

The mission of Seat at the Table is to help at-risk 18 to 25-year olds better transition into adulthood by providing parental presence and community support via residential mentoring in a Christian family environment.

We'd love to hear from you!

Do you know of individuals, companies or foundations for whom serving the under-resourced would be a common passion?  Or, do you have an email address for someone whom you think would like to hear about A Seat at the Table? If so, please contact us HERE and let us know those names and/or email addresses! We are always looking to talk to those who have a similar heart to reach across racial and economic divides in our city and beyond.  Our goal is to have A Seat at the Table chapters in major cities around the country!

Also, if you have questions about A Seat at the Table, contact us HERE as well. We want to hear from you!

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