The St. Louis Park Emergency Program (STEP) began in 1975, first meeting at Wooddale Lutheran Church. Sue Nelson was the first director, first serving as a volunteer. 1975 was also the year that Brookside was decommissioned as an elementary school, and STEP became one of the first tenants of the community center.
After many years at Brookside, the building was sold and STEP was moved to a building at Wooddale and Highway 7. They rented this building for $1 from the City. In 2009 that building was torn down, and they moved to a building at 2239 Edgewood Ave. So. near Cedar Lake Road. That building cost $6,500 a month, however, and the organization looked for a permanent home.
On May 24, 2010, it moved into the former Premier Plastics building at 6812 Lake St..