Catholic ministries assist expecting mother who lost family home in tornado — one week before due date
A nursing pillow with a cheerful pink-and-green floral cover sat on top of a single suitcase and two small backpacks in the corner of Yusmary Perozo’s hotel room.
It was all she had managed to grab from her family’s home in the Greater Ville neighborhood of north St. Louis after an EF-3 tornado ripped through the area on May 16. It was now May 22, and her baby was due the next day.
“I had a (crib), I had a rocking chair, I had the stuffed animals, the clothes, everything,” she said, speaking through a translator. “…The only things I could get were mine and the baby’s that I am going to take to the hospital.”
Perozo was home alone when the tornado came. Her husband, Smiler Camarío, was at work, and her other children, Yadíer, 13, Yeísser, 7, and Salome, 2, were at school and daycare.
“When the alarms began to sound, the windows began to explode, and I was very scared and ran to the basement. I got under some boxes, and the blocks below the basement began to explode, and I could not breathe from dust,” she said. “I started praying to God…I thought I was going to be trapped there inside the basement.”
“God put His hand on me, because I did not get trapped in the house, by the mercy of God.”
The family stayed in the house that night, despite the windows being blown out and the roof being badly damaged. The next day, volunteers from a church helped the family move into a hotel room. Perozo was initially hesitant to leave the house, but when she and her family returned a couple of days later, they found that the rains had caused the structure to crumble even more; a red sign on the door warned that it was unsafe to enter at all.
Perozo was scheduled to give birth to her fourth child, a baby boy named Smiler — after her husband — on May 23. From her hotel room, she fielded calls from Barnes-Jewish Hospital, ensuring she had received all the instructions to prepare for her C-section.
“God knows how to do things, and I trust that everything will go well,” she said.
Perozo and her family are no strangers to difficult circumstances. Exactly one year before her due date, the family arrived in the United States through a U.S. Border Patrol port of entry, applying for asylum in the country after a harrowing journey from Venezuela, Colombia and Peru north through Central America and Mexico. They fled sexual violence and threats from gangs, she said.
After first traveling to Denver, they came to St. Louis, where they slept on the streets before a series of phone calls connected them to Immigrant and Refugee Ministry, a collaborative effort of six south St. Louis parishes. The ministry helped them find an immediate place in the Gateway 180 shelter while they searched for permanent housing and continued to support them throughout the year.
This spring, things were looking up for the family. Perozo and Camarío both have steady jobs after receiving their work permits. Their boys love their school and exploring Tower Grove and Forest Parks. They were excited to welcome their newest family member and spend some extra time together while Perozo is on maternity leave.
Her family planned to move into Peter &Paul Community Services’ community campus in north St. Louis while looking for another home to rent. Immigrant and Refugee Ministries reached out to the archdiocese’s Office of Peace and Justice and Respect Life Apostolate, which used money from its Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Fund for parents facing financial difficulties to purchase a car seat, baby clothing, blankets, diapers, wipes and other infant necessities for the family.
Although Perozo grieves the loss of being able to bring her new baby back to their family home, her faith can never be taken from her, no matter the disaster.
“Never hesitate to turn to God, because God does not abandon us. God is always there,” she said. “…Life has highs and lows, but He did not abandon me at any time. I am alive (because of) His mercy, and we are here, because of His mercy. Everything else recovers.”
