LOVEtheLOU with Louis Rouggly - The story of a White man trying to make a difference in a tough St. Louis neighborhood.

The Freeman Report

In 2011 Louis Rouggly, a white man, did not just go find a building or even a store front to begin his mission, no he moved his entire family into the one most dangerous and dilapitdated neighborhoods in St. Louis. He felt he could change the neighborhood one person at a time. It was tough but this was not a Serpico moment. Everyone wondered what he was really doing there. He feared for his family but felt this is where he needed to be at that time. They heard gunshots quite often and rarely went outside at night.
When I arrived at the building where Louis established his mission - LOVEtheLou, he was not ready to do the podcast. He wanted me walk with him around the neighborhood, to get a feel for what it was like. There there were boarded up buidlings and houses all over the area. Cars sped down the streets as if they were in a NASCAR race. People seemed to be friendly though and all knew Louis.
There are 45,000 abandoned homes in St. Louis but the day I was there he gave away a home. I was moved and honored to be allowed to participate in the event.
Louis also gave me a tour of the buildings his mission has purchased, a church and school to name a few.
He has also torn down abandon houses and put gardens on empty lots where some of the kids are now responsible for maintaining. There are no grocery stores in the area and I truly understood the meaning the of Food Desert. We also talked about what it is like to be dependent on the government; how many have to stand in 21 or 22 different lines to get what they need to survive. They don't want to be dependent but they don't know how to get off. Louis is now teaching kids skills they can use to get a job and become successful. He gave me a tour of his shop where they kids can learn and then he introduced me to Jayvon. He is 18 now and has been coming here since he was 11. Jayvon told me he wants Louis's job and I believe he was have it some day. He started an open gym on Sunday afternoons on his own and now has about 30 people from ages 40 down to 4 coming in. Jayvon, as did Louis, give me hope that there are pockets within this country that really are trying to make a difference. Towards the end of our podcast I asked Louis why stories like his and Coach Roynell Young in Houston and so many others are not getting attention. These are stories of hope and people making difference. You will have to listen to hear his answer.
KF