State money will soon begin going to victims of the May tornado in St. Louis via an organization made up of north side churches. But the total dollars will start out small with a possibility of increasing.
The Spirit of St. Louis Task Force, a faith-based disaster response and relief initiative born in response to the storm, announced Thursday it was one of eight groups across Missouri to be chosen to distribute disaster relief funds from the Missouri Housing Trust Fund.
The group asked for $1 million but will have to start with $50,000. Total damage from the storm is estimated to be more than $1.5 billion.
“We’re not focused on the number that they gave us; we're looking at the larger number,” said Bishop Lee Scott of Lively Stone Church of God. "We're trying to make people whole again.”
Scott said once the group has distributed the initial grant, it can apply for more. He said he has faith that the process will continue until it can make payments close to the $1 million figure.
“Faith is based upon stepping out on something that you don't know is going to exist. We're having faith in [the state] to do what they say they're going to do,” Scott said. “Trust me, if they don't, you'll hear from us again because we're not going nowhere.”
Scott said people seeking aid can apply now for help paying rental assistance, utilities, mortgage payments and lost pay due to the tornado, and they will start hearing back from caseworkers on their applications next week.
The goal is to get money to applicants within a week of their applications being approved to pay outstanding debts to get storm victims back on track.
“Not just to help people and give them a bandage, but to get them out of the ditch so that they can walk for themselves,” said Myron Gray, executive director at Gia Community Development, the nonprofit organization working with the churches.
Federal, state and city money has been slow to get to some north side residents trying to rebuild their lives after the tornado, leaving some in the community feeling neglected. Clearing debris has also been an ongoing issue.
“There are still people today, 139 days later, that are in the same place that they were in on May 16th,” said 10th ward Alderwoman Shameem Clark Hubbard. “The work that these churches are doing is critical. We know many of these relief works started in church basements.”
