Residents of East St. Louis gathered to discuss their experiences living in a city prone to adversity and how they envision positive change manifesting in their dynamic communities on Thursday night.

Voices of East St. Louis, a subset of Project East St. Louis (PESTL) that aims to amplify the voices of East St. Louis community members, hosted the panel, which included a current high school student, a health care professional, a mother and community organizer, a minister and an established grocer, all from the East St. Louis community.

Organizers of the event noted that while last year’s panel focused on examining some of the issues in East St. Louis from an academic lens, the focus this year was to let community members share their experiences directly with students.

Minister Greg Witherspoon, the first panelist to speak, worked for Anheuser-Busch for 10 years before beginning his vocational service at New Life Community Church in East St. Louis in 2010. He noted that although there remains room for improvement, he has seen a distinct shift in the cooperation within the community.

“We’re seeing partnering like we’ve never seen before,” Witherspoon said. “We see community activists, store owners, parents, students, people beginning to say, ‘We are East St. Louis’, and there’s a new representation that’s starting to emerge in the city.”

Jabari Conrad spoke on behalf of Bond Ave Fish and Poultry, a fourth generation grocery store currently owned by his father. The store has been housed in East St. Louis for over 70 years, where Conrad oversees its daily operations.

He noted that a huge factor in encouraging growth is helping people discover and monetize their skill sets, a notion in line with the original industrialist ideals on which St. Louis was built.

“The ability to maneuver, move and change and affect the growth of the community from within is something I’ve noticed to be not just a change but a good change, as far as the city’s concerned,” Conrad said.

Another voice on the panel came from Bhagya Kolli, the director of nutrition services at East Side Health District and a leader in various public health initiatives in St. Louis that include access to fresh food, breastfeeding counseling and diabetes prevention.

She shared her experiences teaching women and encouraging them to pass on the knowledge to others, which over time lead to multiple women pursuing nursing degrees and getting jobs within hospitals.

“There’s so much talent out there. It just takes a little something to say, ‘You’ve got it. Use it,” Kolli said.

Mother of three and East St. Louis community organizer Lettie Hicks emphasized the importance of identifying your passion and then taking action in a way that gets you excited.

“In order to react, you have to act,” Hicks said. “You have to take steps towards that reaction.”

She noted that while some may be complacent, keeping to themselves and not working for the sake of the community, significant change requires more than just going about your daily life.

“If that’s all you’re going to do, what changes are you going to see?” Hicks said.

Aspiring artist and current East St. Louis Senior High School student Andra Lang Jr. spoke of his experience attending public school in the community, and noted that a general lack of self-worth and ambition amongst students often holds people back from achievement—starting at a young age.

He suggested that Washington University students looking to help encourage East St. Louis youth to dream big need to engage in real, empathic relationships with them.

“First and foremost build their trust, and once you have that established, start to inspire them,” Lang said.

Conquering the negative mindset, however, is no small feat, he added.

“That’s going to be hard. You have to in some way break through all of that,” he said.

Sophomore and PESTL member Sarah Yang said that the enthusiasm for putting on the panel was clear from both sides of the engagement and was aided by the connections previously established by the group through its three subsections: one designed for academic guidance and tutoring, one in the medical clinic and Voices of St. Louis, the third, which held the panel and focuses on advocacy.

“They’re really receptive to [Washington University] people making long-term connections with the community,” Yang said.

She said a main message throughout the panel was that change begins with understanding.

“The panelists emphasized taking the time to listen to what people are saying instead of just forcing a solution on them,” Yang said.

Junior Risha Shah, also a member of PESTL, noted that while Washington University students have an ability to make a difference in the East St. Louis community, students that reach out may find that there is a lot to gain on both sides.

“There’s a lot to be learned by going to communities where you don’t necessarily fit in immediately or you don’t have a lot in common,” Shah said.

Sophomore Kourtney Kroll attended the event and was impressed by the content each panelist put forth.

“They all had a unique message and perspective to give and that really came across well throughout the entire discussion,” Kroll said. “It really made me think about the types of impacts I want to make and how my time here can help me do that.”

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article misstated “PESL” as the acronym for Project East St. Louis. The group’s abbreviated name is “PESTL.”