City of St. Louis and Civic Partners Mobilize Winter Safety Outreach, Offer Hotel Rooms and Rental Assistance

This week, City, State and civic partners from the Tornado Recovery Advisory Committee mobilized a new effort to reach out to tornado-impacted residents who may still be living in or by damaged structures to ensure they have a plan to stay safe and warm throughout the winter and connect them with available short-term housing options.

“During the brutal cold weather of the past two weeks, we opened shelters for anyone who needed a place to be safe and warm, but we recognize there are people who are still living in homes damaged by the tornado who may not want to come to a shelter, or may need different kinds of support,” said Mayor Cara Spencer. “Our team and partners from the Tornado Recovery Advisory Committee have been working on a range of options to support these residents.”

For tornado-impacted families with children, seniors 65 years and older, or those living with accessibility or functional needs, the City is now making hotel rooms and emergency rental assistance available. The City is investing more than $10 million, allocated through board bills 94 and 95, which were passed and signed less than a month ago, to make housing available to tornado-impacted residents and our broader unhoused population.

The City of St. Louis Recovery Office, in collaboration with partners including Action St. Louis and the St. Louis Integrated Health Network, is making outbound calls and deploying outreach workers to check on individuals who remain in tornado-damaged structures or who are unhoused due to the storm. These efforts aim to ensure residents have the resources they need to stay safe and warm, are aware of available warming centers and are connected to additional services.

The St. Louis Community Foundation serves as the charitable fund administrator for the City of St. Louis Tornado Response Fund, which was established to receive donations and provide grants to organizations leading recovery efforts.

The STLRecovers Outreach Center will proactively call and email households that may be eligible for this assistance, based on their applications for FEMA Individual Assistance. All households in need of assistance are encouraged to visit the STLRecovers Outreach Center at 4401 Natural Bridge Ave. or call the STLRecovers Call Center at 833-925-0977.

The City is able to place eligible residents in hotel rooms within approximately 24-48 hours, while securing rental assistance can take 30 days or more to allow for applications to be reviewed, apartments to be located and leases to be finalized; households that are eligible may be offered hotel rooms while they wait for rental assistance. Anyone can call the United Way Helpline at 211 for immediate shelter needs.

“We know it is going to take all of us to make sure our neighbors make it through this winter safely,” said Chief Recovery Officer Julian Nicks. “We are grateful to our community partners who are joining us to reach out and support residents. These organizations and all the other non-profits, faith communities and neighborhood volunteer efforts across our city are vital for taking care of our neighbors impacted by the May 16 tornado throughout this winter season.”

In addition, recognizing that residents may be experiencing anxiety and stress from the long recovery, the State of Missouri, with the support of FEMA, is offering residents crisis counseling services by calling or texting Show Me Hope at 1-800-985-5990.

“There is a range of emotional supports available at no cost in our tornado-impacted neighborhoods,” said City of St. Louis Commissioner of Health Victoria Anwuri. “Crisis counselors will be knocking on doors to check on residents. We encourage people to get the support they need to be well.”

Any area residents who need help this winter with shelter or other needs can call 211.

On Thursday, Dec. 18, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., the public is invited to a community meeting and resource fair to get updates on the recovery efforts, apply for tornado recovery programs and connect with City officials. The resource fair begins at 5:30 p.m. The program starts at 6 p.m. This event will take place at the Matthews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club, 4245 Kingshighway Blvd.