Urban League Save Our Sons program
provides a pipeline back to work!
By Tavia Gilchrist | For The St. Louis American
“I’m just pulling up in front of a property that I’m planning to invest in and
I have the map directions up on my phone, can I give you a call back?”
Willard Donlow Jr. was in the middle of house-hunting when a reporter called him on a recent afternoon. The 35-year-old single father had
been visiting abandoned homes in North St. Louis City with plans to redevelop several neighborhoods, brick by brick.
A year ago, Donlow’s future seemed clouded and uncertain as he coped with a recent divorce, single parenting and unemployment.
“I went into depression when I lost my job. I prayed and asked God how do I get out of this,” he said. He attributes his recovery to Save Our
Sons, a workforce development program offered through the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. “You get resume-building skills and
computing skills and you’re coached on networking,” said Donlow, who completed the program last year and landed a job three days later.
“They’re polishing and grooming you to not just get a job, but how to keep a job and advance and make yourself have added value.”
Save Our Sons, dubbed SOS, a universal distress signal, has become a centerpiece initiative for St. Louis’ Urban League chapter. The program
grew out of the social and civic activism after the shooting death of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson in August 2014. “Talking to the residents
of Ferguson, they said to be most helpful, the number one problem was jobs and finding ways to care for ourselves and our families because
there’s not a lot of access to jobs or opportunities available and there are so many barriers,” said Michael McMillan, CEO of the local
Urban League. Since its inception in January 2015, the Urban League says it has used Save Our Sons to train and find jobs for nearly 500 Af-