Catholic organizations among those continuing to assist tornado survivors one year after disaster
Erlane “Lanny” Taylor, left, and Janice Wilson were both displaced by the May 16, 2025, tornado. The women became friends while being hosted by Society of St. Vincent de Paul on a floor at Peter & Paul Community Services’ Community Campus. They have since moved into new residences.
Janice Wilson and Erlane “Lanny” Taylor were strangers to one another until May 16, 2025, when a deadly tornado ripped through St. Louis.
Nearly one year later, the two women have forged a special friendship after meeting on the seventh floor of Peter & Paul Community Services’ Community Campus in north St. Louis, where the Society of St. Vincent de Paul hosted more than a dozen displaced tornado residents.
Wilson was living in an apartment at Alumnus Gardens in the Greater Ville, while Taylor was at Roosevelt Apartments, about two and a half miles away in Fountain Park. Both neighborhoods were among the hardest hit by the EF-3 tornado, which sliced a path of destruction spanning 23 miles from Clayton through Forest Park and across north St. Louis, killing five people and injuring several dozen others.
After moving through multiple shelters, Wilson arrived at Peter & Paul first. Taylor came soon after, with not much more than the clothes she was wearing. Wilson noticed right away and offered her items from several storage totes she had packed away in her room.
“The first thing out of her mouth was, ‘What do you need?’” Taylor recalled. “Most people, they could care less about what you got. Not Janice. Right off the bat, she started opening up bags and pulling stuff out.”
Wilson said that was just the way she was raised. Having attended Catholic schools on the northside, she remembers a lesson that her mother and grandmother instilled in her — treat people the way you’d want to be treated.
Saint Louis University students cleared debris from a home in the 5200 block of Enright Avenue in St. Louis on April 24. From left to right are Caroline Murphy of Wildwood; Rachel Heath of Dwight, Illinois; Colin Murkowski of Anchorage, Alaska; and Brian Windsor of Miami. The students volunteered for a service day with the university’s Service Leadership program to help clean up debris left by a tornado in May 2025.
In the months that followed the tornado, St. Vincent de Paul partnered with HOPE (Housing Options Provided for the Elderly) to identify potential residents and case management services. Sixteen older adults offered temporary housing at Peter & Paul have all since been moved into permanent housing, including Taylor and Wilson, said Julie Komantesky, director of Vincentian services.
“What really happened on the seventh floor was that a community formed,” Komanetsky said. “Some of them knew each other, some of them didn’t, but they had all survived hell. They all looked out for each other, and they held each other accountable.”
In addition to continued follow up with those residents, the St. Vincent de Paul St. Louis Council’s disaster committee and designated disaster fund has provided ongoing relief to affected residents through its conferences. Most of the requests have been handled by the St. Peter Claver Parish conference, with others coming through St. Josephine Bakhita Parish, both in north St. Louis.
The tornado damaged or destroyed more than 5,000 buildings throughout St. Louis, including homes, businesses and churches, and caused an estimated $1.6 billion in property damage. The destruction was especially severe in north St. Louis neighborhoods including Fountain Park, Greater Ville, Penrose and Academy.
Fred Prince grew up in a historic brick home in north St. Louis that had been in his family for more than a century. His is one of many homes that are beyond repair and will need to be demolished. Prince would like to rebuild, but he is among those who didn’t have insurance — many homeowners in affected neighborhoods lacked adequate insurance coverage due to several challenges, including the age and condition of their homes, limited renovation history and neighborhood location.
The tornado set off a chain of crises. Prince had undergone major shoulder surgery the same day the storm hit and didn’t get to heal properly as he and his mother and two teenage sons lost their home. Prince lived out of hotels, often paying out of pocket, and his car. He was about ready to give up when he was referred in January to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis for long-term case management.
Fred Prince picked up mail on May 5 at his family’s tornado-damaged home in north St. Louis. Prince grew up in the home, which has been in his family for generations. The house, which was damaged in the May 16, 2025, tornado and then was further damaged by rainwater afterward, will be demolished. “This house lost memories, but my plan is to build a new house where I can start new memories,” Prince said. He is currently living in a residence in the McKinley Heights neighborhood.
With Catholic Charities’ help, Prince and his two teenage sons moved into an apartment in south St. Louis last month. His is one of about 180 active cases, director of disaster services Ben Perrin said.
Case managers are working with clients to create disaster recovery plans that narrowly focus on tornado-related needs — primarily housing — and then connecting them with appropriate resources, including city-funded rental assistance, property assessments, demolition and repair programs and support through the St. Louis COAD long-term recovery committee, other organizations and donations.
“Catholic Charities is focused on walking alongside people through this process, no matter how long it takes,” Perrin said. “There are still lots of needs, and this work is going to be happening for a long time as we continue to meet the needs of people after the storm.”
Donations to Catholic Charities’ disaster relief fund have helped with needs such as rent assistance and related expenses. A program called House to Home pairs participants with residents to refurnish their homes with needed items, including pots and pans, dishes and furniture. Additionally, Catholic Charities has connected students from Catholic schools with ongoing tornado cleanup service opportunities in the Academy and surrounding neighborhoods.
Prince was outfitted with new furnishings and other household items through the House to Home program. Surviving the tornado made him realize that everything can change in an instant, but in some ways, he feels that this was God’s way of preparing him for a new journey.
“I just look at this as a fresh start,” he said. “The trauma of disaster, it can do three things: It can break you, it can take you or it can make you. So either you’re gonna instill in yourself and get that initiative and drive to overcome those obstacles, or you’re gonna let it take the best of you to where you not gonna be the best for yourself or anybody else.”
While tornado recovery has been slow but steady, Perrin said he finds hope each time a case makes progress.
“So we get a project funded, or we get somebody into an apartment or we get an answer to a really specific and challenging question,” he said. “This disaster has been more challenging than any disaster I’ve seen in my 10 years of doing this work. Every case has something unique and challenging to it, so we celebrate the victories and try to keep our focus on the goal of each of those recovery plans.”
How you can help
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis: www.ccstl.org/give (mark disaster relief)
Society of St. Vincent de Paul: svdpstlouis.org/donate
Julie Komanetsky, with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, met with Arlee “Butch” Hayes Jr. on April 29 at his apartment at Winter Garden Apartments in St. Louis. Hayes was displaced by the May 16, 2025, tornado and was hosted by Society of St. Vincent de Paul on a floor at Peter & Paul Community Services’ Community Campus.
