On May 16, staff members at the Urban League Women’s Business Center and the Small Business Administration were wrapping up a week of helping new entrepreneurs when a tornado of historic proportions tore through their north St. Louis neighborhood.
As plate-glass windows shattered and winds topping 100 mph battered the former Commerce Bank building on Natural Bridge, staffers huddled in a bank vault and prayed for safety.
Months later, the building has been repaired and reborn. It now houses the STLRecovers Outreach Center, a new hub designed to help connect residents affected by the tornado with city services and resources.
The Outreach Center enhances the city’s effort to personally reach residents still struggling to rebuild. It delivers city services directly to people in need, including assistance through the newly launched Private Property Assistance Program.
The business center, which previously served as a FEMA disaster recovery site, is now “a pivotal hub for the community,” said Michael P. McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.
“This is a one-stop shop to get multiple layers of access to as many avenues as possible to help people rebuild their lives after the tornado,” McMillan said Tuesday during a press conference.
City officials said the partnership underscores how local organizations are filling critical gaps in recovery efforts.
“You are not alone,” Mayor Cara Spencer said. “Help is just a phone call or a visit away. The work is just beginning, and there are tough months ahead.”
As colder weather approaches, Spencer said the city’s priority is ensuring residents have safe housing and accelerating home repairs.
“I’m grateful that the Urban League has once again provided us with a great space in one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods so that more residents in need of these services have access,” she said.
Along with in-person support to connect residents with available programs, the center helps tornado-impacted residents set up rights-of-entry, complete site assessments and inspections and coordinate demolition, debris removal, home stabilization or repair.
The STLRecovers Outreach Center is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The city has also opened the STLRecovers Call Center, which offers the same services during the same hours. The Call Center can be reached at (833) 925-0977.
The city’s renewed focus on local recovery comes as federal leaders look to prevent disaster-response delays.
U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell on Tuesday introduced the FEMA Operations Continuity Act of 2025, which he said would “ensure that FEMA can continue delivering disaster relief, recovery, and mitigation assistance during a lapse in government funding.”
The bill would authorize funding for essential operations through the Disaster Relief Fund, ensuring FEMA can continue delivering aid during a government shutdown.
“This spring, the St. Louis region was hit by devastating tornadoes, and we couldn’t have afforded to wait for assistance any longer than we did. Families rebuilding their lives after a disaster should never have to wait for Congress to get its act together before receiving life-saving help,” Bell said.
“This bill guarantees that FEMA’s essential work continues uninterrupted during a government shutdown — because protecting human life and property should never be subject to drama in Washington.”
According to Bell’s office, the legislation would “further prohibit the diversion or withholding of DRF funds during a lapse in appropriations and explicitly classifies FEMA’s disaster response activities as essential functions under the Anti-Deficiency Act, exempting them from shutdown restrictions.”