The challenges some St. Louis seniors are facing after the tornado

After an EF-3 tornado struck St. Louis on May 16, Cheryl Hebron—known as “Mama Cheryl” to many—checked on seniors first.

The founder of Dutchtown-based food-share nonprofit Building Villages, Hebron found that many of the senior living facilities she visited were without power. (Some still don’t have it, she says.) Without elevator access, the nonprofit needed volunteers to help trek food up the staircase. The organization needed—and still needs—nonperishables, disposable diapers, coffee, and juice for seniors to take their medications, among other essentials. With many buildings having broken windows and lacking air-conditioning, heat is becoming an increasing concern.

“I knew we had to help the community first, [rather than waiting for] FEMA to come in,” Hebron says. “Sometimes, it takes days for them to come, and people need immediate help. They can’t wait.”

At St. Louis’ chapter of The Oasis Institute, a nonprofit that provides enriching programming to promote healthy aging, president Paul Weiss says that the scope of the impacts to the senior population are largely unknown at this time; many affected seniors have unreliable access to electricity, the internet, or transportation, and some have been displaced from their homes altogether.

Weiss can attest how his own family has coped. His 88-year-old mother lives near Forest Park and was without power for three days. Although Weiss explains that his mom was able to move in with him—a best-case scenario that still left her disoriented and outside of her typical environment—many of her neighbors in the 12-story building stayed put, whether by choice or due to a lack of options.

“We know that the needs of older adults are a little more acute when displacement happens,” Weiss says. “They’re more heat sensitive; they’re more likely to get dehydrated. They’re the least facile with adjustments to digital skills and tools, meaning they’ve got their setup, but having to alter that can be a challenge. Some don’t drive, so access to transportation to get to food and water is a challenge. That’s why the nonprofits that are doing so much direct distribution are really important right now.”

Oasis has established drop-off sites at Northwest Plaza in St. Ann, the Clayton Community Center, and Eden Theological Seminary. The organization is distributing those donations mostly throughout North County and to organizations such as Urban League. Needed donations include nonperishable foods, travel-size toiletries, bottled water, batteries, flashlights and lanterns, trash bags, diapers, baby wipes, infant formulas, tarps and extension cords, phone chargers and surge protectors, paper towels, cleaning products, disinfecting wipes, first-aid kits, and general hygiene and menstrual products. 

The Northwest Plaza location (500 Northwest Plaza, suite 425) is also open to the community as a place for impacted individuals to charge their devices, use free wifi, and hydrate in air-conditioning. “If someone just needs some place to go with their phone to recharge it, to stay connected with family or their iPad, or charge something and get wifi and water, we are welcoming people in,” Weiss says. “We have comfy chairs to sit in. We have a conference room; we have classrooms; we have workstations where we can always make space for people to want to drop in.”

Weiss emphasizes that the need is still overwhelming, even weeks after the storms. “This is not just a power outage for many people; a lot of homes and multifamily living situations are really damaged. Especially along that corridor just north of Forest Park, there’s a lot of multifamily and single-family housing where people are displaced, and it’s going to be longer term than just an aberrant repair.”

Hebron echoes that it’s essential for folks to keep showing up and donating. “This is for the long run. This is not, ‘Oh, we’re here for 20 or 30 days.’ This is going to go on for months and years,” she says. “I already have people saying, ‘Hey, Miss Cheryl, if you get a storage bin, I have this furniture or winter clothes…because people are already thinking about the progression of this need. We have to take care of each other—this affects all of us.”

Emphasizing the tornado has impacted multiple generations, Hebron has been bringing toys for kids who need to stay entertained without access to media or TV. Among her most vivid memories is a family of seven, to whom she brought insulin, teddy bears, clothing, and shoes—so they no longer had to walk on glass in their damaged home. “Whether it’s a teddy bear or shoes, the little things in life are what can make a person’s whole day,” she says. “And I think that matters.” (Those interested in donating to Hebron’s efforts can call 314-933-6782.)

Because seniors, in particular, tend to downsize, Weiss explains, they are often in multifamily units that may have a longer repair time than single-family homes. Weiss explains that the most important way to support senior family members and neighbors is to ensure they have a comfortable, tempered place to rest, where they have access to water to clean themselves and a low risk of preventable falls.

For those who know of an older adult refusing to leave their homes, despite concern of an unhealthy or dangerous environment amid crisis, Weiss explains that there are a few reasons to understand: fear of falling in a less mobility-friendly environment, anxiety of leaving their things that offer them support and comfort behind, fear of what will happen to their valuables and pets while they are away, or a degree of cognitive decline. “If you’re going to move someone, it’s not just about moving them to an air-conditioned space,” says Weiss. “It’s about moving them with some collection of the stuff that gives them spacial comfort.”

For seniors in urgent need, Weiss adds that Heat Up St. Louis provides cool-down stations across the metro area, and there are Metro St. Louis transit options for transportation to and from shelters. He notes that the Red Cross is an immediate responder (1-800-RED-CROSS), and the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (314-612-5918) provides support, including food, for seniors in St. Louis City.

“The most important thing for people who have older adults in their lives, either as friends or neighbors or older relatives who you may not see as often: Don’t make the assumption that they’re OK,” Weiss says. “Even if their power’s back—because transportation has been disrupted, the food in their fridge may have gone bad. There is a level of the amount of checking in that needs to accelerate right now. This really is neighbor to neighbor.”

This is especially true during a time in which many kids move away, Weiss explains. “Older adults tend to become invisible,” he says. “We need to go out of our way to find them and check in—now more than ever.”