For 10 months, Jeanette Robinson lived behind boards.
The 82-year-old St. Louis resident watched the EF-3 tornado that touched down on May 16, 2025 tear through her home. It blew out windows, damaged her roof and siding. It sent tree limbs into an upstairs bedroom. A 100-year-old walnut tree was lifted from the ground. A tree from next door punctured her bedroom wall. And a vacant house Robinson said she had tried for years to get demolished was blown onto her home during the storm.
“I’ve never been in a crisis like this before,” Robinson said as she reflected on the past year since the storm hit her house. “I was expecting things to happen a little faster.”
Help eventually came through Grassroots Redeeming Love, a newly formed organization that stepped in after the storm to work with residents trying to recover. Robinson said founder and executive director Ginelle Bess came to her home within days of the tornado after seeing her story on the news.
Robinson’s windows had been covered with plastic. Bess told her it wouldn’t hold with more storms expected. The group boarded the windows, brought food and continued checking on her while she lived without electricity.
“She kept in contact,” Robinson said. “The last time she came, she said, ‘We are raising money and we’ll be able to do the work.’”
The repairs have been extensive. Robinson said she has received a new roof, new siding, new gutters, repairs to the back of her house and eight new windows. Doors are still expected, and a front porch remains on the list.
“We just want to show her that we love her and we care about her,” Bess said as volunteers worked in the rain on the one-year anniversary of the storm. “We are out here working in the rain because there are people out here living in tents and in their cars. There is still work to do.”
Bess said Grassroots Redeeming Love has spent a little more than $86,000 on Robinson’s home and is trying to raise about $30,000 more for a front porch. Robinson also needs a new bathroom — another project estimated at about $30,000.
“What’s next for us is just continuing to raise money to help her stay in her home,” Bess said.
Robinson said FEMA provided some money, but it wasn’t enough to cover the larger repairs. She used it for immediate needs after power returned, including replacing electrical breakers and repairing heating equipment.
The delay was difficult. Grassroots Redeeming Love was founded last July, and Bess said the organization had to secure legal counsel, insurance and qualified contractors before taking on major rebuilding work. Robinson said she didn’t know the technical side of nonprofit recovery work — only that she was living in a damaged house with boarded windows and fear every time it rained.
“All I thought about is that I’m living behind boards,” Robinson said.
The relationship between Robinson and Bess was tested by frustration, delays and the emotional weight of recovery. But both said the experience built trust.
Robinson now counts Bess as family.
“She’s like a relative now,” Robinson said. “I can’t thank her enough.”
For Robinson, the new windows mean more than construction progress. They mean she can look out again after months in the dark.
“You don’t know how good it feels,” Robinson said. “I can see the daylight.”