A NEW MA BELL: About 45 AT&T employees gathered on Saturday to help make one floor of a 90-year-old building at the north edge of downtown St. Louis feel more like home for women and children.

The fourth floor of the building at the corner of 19th and Cole streets in the Carr Square neighborhood houses the Gateway 180 Homeless Shelter, a 24-hour emergency facility for women, children and families.

Shelter director Jenn Lyke said in an email today that with all the people Gateway 180 serves -- 1,524 people last year, including 851 children -- the shelter gets a lot of "hard use."

"It sounds so simple," Lyke added. "But one of the most important things we can do to reassure and empower families working to transform their lives is to create welcoming and uplifting living quarters."

John Sondag, president of AT&T Missouri, was behind the company's volunteer effort to renovate the shelter's fourth floor.

"Gateway180 is so much more than just a shelter," Sondag said. "They are a program that focuses on ending homelessness for families in St. Louis by getting them back into homes quickly and equipping them with the skills necessary to stay there. They expect the families to work hard to change their lives. Our AT&T employee resource groups are proud to support the work of these families ..."

Participating alongside Sondag was Debra Hollingsworth, regional AT&T VP. In a further commitment to the shelter, Sondag, Tom Voss of Ameren, and Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster are chairing the third annual "Open Your Heart for the Homeless Celebration" on April 20 at the Palladium. The event will benefit Gateway 180.