Beverly Jenkins
R&R Marketplace
St. Louis, Missouri

Editor’s Note: Invested Faith (IF) and Good Faith Media (GFM) are featuring the work of three IF fellows this week. Wednesday’s feature of Josh Richardson and Brugsmansia Ministries can be found here and Thursday’s feature of Marcy Bursac and The Forgotten Adoption Option can be found here.

Ferguson, Missouri, became the focus of national attention in 2014 after a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed African American teenager. 

The small community of Dellwood, situated just north of Ferguson and on the main traffic artery into Ferguson, sustained heavy damage as a result of the riots and protests following the shooting. The town, where over 80% of the population of 5,000 are Black or African American, was mostly overlooked as Ferguson began to rebuild.

Dellwood still struggles with much-needed business development and social services for residents. Beverly Jenkins is changing that.

Ten years ago, Beverly and her husband Ken, founders and co-pastors of Refuge & Restoration Church in the Dellwood community, began to dream. A desolate strip mall on West Florissant Avenue, which led into Fergusson, had been essentially abandoned after the Schnucks supermarket closed almost twenty years ago.

The building caught their eyes.

The couple prayed in the empty parking lot, imagining a “marketplace ministry—a place that could meet both the spiritual and economic needs of the surrounding community.” Then they got to work. 

Today, that abandoned strip mall boasts an early childhood development center, a career center and co-working space, a bank, an addiction center, and a community pharmacy. The first phase of the planned $20 million economic hub is already bustling with activity. The second phase includes a church space that will also function as a community meeting space and other needed social service offices. 

R&R Marketplace is a testament to Beverly Jenkins’ hard work and instinct for business strategy and innovation. Always enthused to empower and invest in the people around her, Jenkins is also quick to challenge the obstacles in her way.

Don’t tell her something can’t be done. R&R Marketplace is a testament to her perseverance. Jenkins is CEO of the Refuge & Restoration non-profit and continues to oversee the vision of the marketplace ministry she prayed for a decade ago.

With a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership, she is involved in workforce development, hiring and staffing, capacity building and grassroots community organizing.

Jenkins was ordained to ministry in 2001 and continues to serve the church and lead marriage retreats with her husband. She is also a frequent guest on podcasts and radio shows. 

Recently named an Invested Faith Fellow, Jenkins is grateful for the gift of unrestricted capital offered through the Invested Faith grant program.

Unrestricted capital is often the hardest to obtain. All Invested Faith grants offer unrestricted funds, allowing those who are doing the work to decide where the money is most needed. 

 “Many times, nonprofits do not get the opportunity to have unrestricted funds. For us, it helps us undergird and support staffing,” said Jenkins. She notes that this funding allows her to continue to build her staff to continue the needed work.

And that needed work will certainly help to rebuild and reshape this small community of Dellwood, Missouri.