A Stronger Dutchtown Through the Pandemic and Beyond

Become a donor to DT2! Every dollar helps DT2 • Downtown Dutchtown towards our mission of building a thriving Dutchtown for all of our residents, business owners, and other stakeholders.

DT2 is also now offering the opportunity to make recurring monthly donations! Click the “Sustaining Donation” button and we’ll automatically receive your chosen amount every month.

One-Time Donation   Sustaining Donation

You’ll be taken to the DonorBox website in a separate tab or window to complete your donation via credit card, bank transfer (ACH), or PayPal. Thank you!

Can’t donate right now? Come back to dutchtownstl.org/donate anytime to set up your sustaining donation.

You can read our review of 2020 and plans for 2021 below, or download our brochure in PDF format.

Building a Strong, Vibrant, Resilient, and Thriving Dutchtown for Neighbors and Local Businesses

There’s no denying that 2020 was a difficult year. An unprecedented health crisis and the resulting economic downturn have hit people and small businesses hard.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everyone’s life. In spite of that, Downtown Dutchtown continued to build a stronger Dutchtown neighborhood. Both DT2 and the neighborhood are forging a path forward and building momentum not otherwise seen in Dutchtown over the last decades.

2021 looks bright. DT2 is poised to take on new challenges, develop solutions, and accomplish more than ever with new guidance from the UrbanMain initiative, renewed interest from neighbors, and new dedicated staff.

Today we’re asking for your help to continue DT2’s mission of promoting a thriving community and shared prosperity by facilitating economic development and fostering opportunity in the Dutchtown neighborhood. Through this mission, we aim to attract diverse ownership, promote places, spaces, and faces, and increase occupancy.

In 2021, we’re seeking to develop a strong base of sustaining donors to help us achieve our mission and build a stronger Dutchtown for everyone. Our goal is to raise $10,000 in annual sustaining donations this year. Your monthly contribution of $10, $25, or $100 goes a long way to our cause.

Your contribution allows us to continue and expand our robust programming, including our work with Missouri Main Street Connection and the UrbanMain initiative, the reactivation of Marquette Park, our campaign to provide additional support for our neighborhood businesses, and so much more.

Though DT2 has been entirely volunteer driven since its inception, in 2020 we were able to hire a part- time staffer to help expand our efforts. Our Dutchtown Growth Manager brings skills and experience that will help us apply for grants, increase volunteerism, promote the neighborhood, and serve the Dutchtown community like never before. Your sustaining donation helps us to further lay the groundwork on which we build a resilient and thriving Dutchtown. Please become a sustaining donor today.

The UrbanMain Initiative in Dutchtown

DT2 has partnered with Missouri Main Street Connection on a first-of-its-kind program in the state. The initiative uses a four point approach that has been successful in reviving historic downtowns in cities across the country and adds a fifth point to address the need of urban neighborhoods like ours. The five points are Organization, Economic Vitality, Promotion, Design, and Safe Clean & Green.

The partnership with Missouri Main Street is a three year project focusing on Downtown Dutchtown that will revitalize our neighborhood’s core and help DT2 develop strategies to implement throughout the Dutchtown neighborhood.

Activating Marquette Park

While the ability to gather with our neighbors was limited by COVID-19, DT2 teamed up with other Dutchtown organizations to bring people together at Marquette Park for activities such as Movie Nights.

Additionally, a partnership has been build with St. Louis’s new Major League Soccer team to sponsor improvements to the soccer field and build a futsal court in 2021. Futsal is related to soccer but played on a smaller pitch.

Not Business As Usual

Dutchtown welcomed several new and revamped businesses in the past year. Despite the ongoing health crisis and economic downturn, entrepreneurs invested their money and time to follow their dreams in Dutchtown.

Urban Eats launched their reimagined Shared Kitchen and Neighborhood FoodHall concepts. Diners have flocked to the new eateries at Urban Eats. Juanita’s Creole Soul has received critical acclaim for their soul food with a twist. Tacos La Jefa went from serving their birria tacos from their backyard to serving lines of customers at their brick and mortar space. And Perfectly Pastry offers up morning coffee, pastries, and desserts, a niche long unoccupied in Dutchtown. Down Virginia Avenue, Shay’s Donuts also brings breakfast treats to the neighborhood, and work is underway at the former Iron Barley to reinvent the space to a new restaurant.

New shops have come to Downtown Dutchtown as well. Newcomers include Kwamboka, a shop selling clothing, gifts, and other merchandise; Forget Me Not Boutique, specializing in new women’s clothing, accessories, and body care; and Melanin Made Beauty, selling hair and beauty products as well as a range of resale clothing. New barber shops and beauty salons opened on Meramec as well. And Cross Grand established their new brick and mortar location. The business, operated by Dutchtown residents, offers photography, videography, event planning, and more.

Established businesses pushed forward through the pandemic as well. Downtown Dutchtown saw Diana’s Boutique expand into a larger space on Meramec and team up with Thrift $#!& to provide an opportunity to an upstart business. The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant has soldiered on in their 40th year, dishing out their classics for carryout and limited dine-in seating. Logan’s Kids Resale provides virtual shopping opportunities to their customers. Our neighborhood businesses continue to adapt to an ever-changing situation, providing the goods and services our neighbors need while also protecting their safety.

Although many of our businesses have struggled during the pandemic (as have businesses across the country), we’ve been excited to see many of these spaces quickly fill back up. Entrepreneurs see opportunity in Dutchtown, and we’re bullish on the future for our neighborhood businesses both established and new.

Dutchtown Proud

Welcome to Dutchtown, a neighborhood that bears the weight of
our city’s past and stands tall in the truth of who we are today. We are St. Louis’s most populous and densest neighborhood. We are a neighborhood that has experienced growth, contraction, and growth again. We are Dutchtown Proud.

We are proud to be a part of one of the most diverse, gritty, and forward thinking neighborhoods in St. Louis. Proud to look for prosperity here. Proud to tell the doubters why we call Dutchtown home.

We call Dutchtown home by choice. We choose to come together and build community with neighbors who may not look or live their lives exactly the same. We respect our neighbors’ right to choose Dutchtown, regardless of who they are, who they love, what they look like, what they do for a living, or what circumstances brought them here.

2020 marked the kickoff of the Dutchtown Proud campaign across the neighborhood. With a grant from the St. Louis Association of Community Organizations (SLACO), we printed and distributed hundreds of yard signs to show neighborhood pride and unity across the community.

We also produced a video highlighting what makes us all proud to be residents and business owners in Dutchtown. You can find the video at dutchtownstl.org/proud.

Big Plans for 2021 and Beyond

DT2 and the Dutchtown neighborhood had a successful 2020 despite facing unprecedented challenges. Investment is increasing, interest in the neighborhood is high, and we have a fantastic foundation and partners to build a vibrant and equitable community in Dutchtown in the years to come. But our work has only just begun.

We’re asking for your assistance to help continue our mission in 2021 and beyond. A monthly contribution of $10, $25, or $50 helps us to bring resources and reinvestment to Dutchtown and plan a brighter future for all of our residents and business owners. Become a sustaining donor today.

The DT2 Agenda for 2021

The UrbanMain Initiative

The UrbanMain initiative is a three year pro- gram during which we’ll be working closely with the professional staff at Missouri Main Street Connection to implement the 4 + 1 Point Approach. Learn more at dutchtownstl.org/urbanmain.

Support Dutchtown Businesses

In late 2020, we began new efforts to reach out to new and existing Dutchtown businesses to drive sales and provide information. We’re also starting our DT2 Before Hours events—coffee hours that give our business owners a chance to meet, network, and share resources. You can find out more at dutchtownstl.org/business.

DT2 After Hours

DT2 After Hours, our monthly happy hours in support of neighborhood businesses, will resume in the spring of 2021. While safety will be the preeminent concern, we believe it’s still important that we continue to bring our community together and bring attention to our new and established businesses. Keep an eye on our Dutchtown calendar for more After Hours and other events.

Movie Nights at Marquette Park

We have also begun planning for our third year of summer Movie Nights at Marquette Park. Our Movie Nights have brought hundreds of neighbors into the park for family friendly entertainment, food trucks, community organizing, and more. See our schedule at dutchtownstl.org/movienight.

Collaboration with Dutchtown Organizations

DT2 will continue to work closely with the Dutchtown Community Improvement District to promote and improve the vital corridor running through the center of our neighborhood. After helping to form the CID in 2017, we’re proud to see our efforts coming to fruition with infrastructure improvements and the development of new strategies for safety, beautification, and promotion.

The Neighborhood Innovation Center has been an invaluable partner over the last year, providing a space to safely gather for outdoor events, technology to hold remote meetings, and becoming Dutchtown’s de facto community center as they continue to develop their long term organizational goals. The NIC will be an integral part of community building in Dutchtown.

We will also aim to strengthen our relationship with Dutchtown South Community Corporation as they undergo a leadership transition while they continue their efforts to empower residents, provide affordable housing, and implement the Gravois Jefferson Historic Neighborhoods Plan.

Organizations such as Thomas Dunn Learning Center, Employment Connection, and the Cure Violence program, as well as our neighborhood schools and congregations and our elected officials will all have a seat at the table beside our residents and business owners to ensure that our work continues to be guided by a diverse array of voices from within the Dutchtown community.

Support DT2 Today!

DT2 has long operated with only a shoestring budget and volunteer staff. This year, we hope to take our work to the next level.

With our new Dutchtown Growth Manager and our work with organizations like Missouri Main Street Connection, opportunities and resources previously unavailable to us are coming into view.

But right now, we need funds to continue our ongoing work of building community and promoting the Dutchtown neighborhood through marketing, events, and other outreach.

DT2’s 2021 Fundraising Goal: $10,000 in Sustaining Donations

We’ve made it easy to continue your support for DT2 · Downtown Dutchtown. Simply go to dutchtownstl.org/donate where you can opt to make a recurring or one-time donation. Recurring donations will automatically be debited from your account monthly.

With nearly $3,000 already committed for 2021, we can reach our goal when 25 more people donate $25 a month. But contributions in any amount are greatly appreciated and go a long way to helping DT2 continue our important mission of promoting a thriving community and shared prosperity by facilitating economic development and fostering opportunity in the Dutchtown neighborhood.

We also still accept donations by check. You can send your check payable to DT2, 3207 Meramec Street, St. Louis, MO 63118.