FOCUS Gateway City is on the near south side of downtown St. Louis. We are proud to face the needs of our neighbors by distributing food, clothing, and warm meals on Sundays and Wednesdays throughout the month.

We seek to provide Orthodox Christians with opportunities to shine forth the love of Christ through volunteering at the Center, in McKinley Heights and in surrounding neighborhoods.

Our goal is to be a community where any person in need can find rest for their souls and resources to help meet their needs.

The prison work of FOCUS Gateway City revolves around two main components at this time and has an additional element in the works. The first is providing cognitive behavioral classes. These classes run six to eight weeks and occur at two federal prisons. They aim to help prepare men to learn skills and new ways of thinking that will enable them to lead more productive lives outside of prison.

The second component is helping perform mock job interviews for the inmates. This component involves volunteers from the local Orthodox churches. Volunteers can go through the process of a mock interview and leave helpful feedback for each participant about what they did well and what they can improve. This component aims to prepare participants to apply for jobs upon release from prison but also serves as an introductory experience to volunteers interested in working in the prison system.

A third component, currently in the works, is providing parenting classes to inmates. This component will aim to help incarcerated fathers learn new parenting skills while still in prison so that when they are released, they will have a new groundwork for building a healthy and productive relationship with their children.