For La Tasha and Johnel Langerston Sr., their home in St. Louis is more than just a personal sanctuary. The building that houses their youth literacy nonprofit Urban Born is also where they live.
May 16’s EF3 tornado took the roof off Urban Born. Subsequent storms and waves of summer heat destroyed their gym’s wood floor. The couple is facing the process of recovery from multiple, urgent crises — and, like thousands of other families in the region, looking to the federal government for help.
The Langerstons joined St. Louis on the Air to talk about their experience navigating federal disaster aid, a journey that’s involved multiple FEMA applications, gaps in response, a succession of denials and a $12,000 check following St. Louis Public Radio coverage of the couple’s struggles to rebuild Urban Born.
As transplants to St. Louis from California, the Langerstons’ biggest help has come from people in their neighborhood and their faith community. That includes those dealing with tornado-related challenges of their own. Four months after the tornado, Johnel said his family, and Urban Born, remain in the thick of the struggle to survive.
“People came in, they circled around us and helped as much as they can,” he said. “We had a [FEMA] check and again, we're grateful for that. [But] it doesn't really do a lot for the damage that we endured.”
The Langerstons’ priority is fixing damage so Urban Born can get back up and running. They’re now waiting on a possible grant. “I sent them the receipts and the information. It’s back to the same old shuffle,” Johnel said.
As they face the long road ahead, La Tasha said she looks forward to seeing the excitement that youth served at Urban Born feel as they build literacy skills — and hearing that excitement reflected in “laughter, the clocks in the gym during the game, and parents talking to their children.”
She welcomes the chance to experience those moments again “and just the joy that brings.”
To hear the full conversation, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
