HANNIBAL — The Hannibal School District Board of Education accepted a bid of $30,000 from Mission 180 for the purchase of Eugene Field Elementary at its meeting Wednesday night.
Stephanie Morris founded Mission 180 with her husband and described the organization as “the outreach center for Compassion Church,” providing food and clothing items, working with foster agencies and connecting vulnerable adults in the community, like aged-out foster kids and people who were recently released from prison, with the resources they need.
“Right now we exist inside of the NECAC building,” Morris said. “What we’re hoping with Mission 180 is to make that on a much bigger scale.”
While Morris hopes that the building can be used as a hub for several non-profit agencies who might need the extra space, services for aged-out foster kids will be the largest focus.
“Those kids don’t know how much they have access to. There’s actually grants out there for housing for them. There is an agency that will completely furnish their house for the first time. There’s free schooling for them when they get out of high school,” she explained. “But a lot of these kids aren’t even getting their interview with DCFS to know what’s available, so we want to be that hub.”
The Morrises found themselves as international missionaries with nowhere to go when the pandemic hit in 2020. Instead of traveling thousands of miles to help those in need, they decided to look around their own community.
They started by placing tables with free food, clothes and toilet paper in front of their house. Then it grew into a youth program, then a food ministry, and by the time they realized nowhere in the area gave away free coats, they realized the real mission was right at home.
They went to non-profit agencies in the area and asked three simple questions to identify gaps in service: “What are you doing? How can we help you? What do you think is the greatest unmet need in our community?”
The Morrises determined that services for aged-out foster kids were especially lacking. Kids are supposed to get a final interview with the Department of Children & Family Services upon aging out of the system, but oftentimes are “lost,” so they are unable to learn of the resources available to them.
“Long term goal, we would love to do housing for aged-out kids. We’ve got a big vision down the road, but right now we want to be that (place that says), ‘Come here, let us tell you how to get connected and where to go. You don’t have to live on the streets.’”
Eugene Field Elementary School closed its doors after the 2024-2025 school year due to declining enrollment. The board decided to sell the building at its September meeting. Three other bids were submitted but were significantly lower than Mission 180’s.
All board members voted to approve the bid, with the exception of Tysa Coleman, who abstained.
In other news, the board:
- declared a 2012 600AJ Boom Life with approximately 3,117 hours, a 2003 Ford cargo van and a 2010 international school bus as surplus equipment;
- approved bus routes for the 2025-2026 school year;
- and approved several bids for items like automotive lifts and cosmetology cabinets to be used at the new Innovation Campus, which is expected to open April 2026.
The board’s next meeting is set to take place at 6 p.m. Nov. 19 in the Hannibal Middle School auditorium, located at 4700 McMasters Avenue in Hannibal.
A copy of the board’s entire informational packet for the October 2025 meeting can be found here.