Many childcare centers face long road to recovery from Friday’s tornado

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - The kids are missing and being missed as childcare centers were impacted by Friday’s tornado and Monday night’s storms. Some childcare centers in the path of the storm have a lot of work to complete before they can welcome children back.

Raggedy Ann ‘n Andy Daycare near Dr. Martin Luther King Drive and Taylor Avenue continues the work to clean up. Here for 33 years, this place has welcomed children, who are now greatly missed.

Raggedy Ann ‘n Andy Daycare owner Angela Malone said, “I’ve cried all I can cry.”

The building has brightly painted windows that still stand out on this block, but gone are the sounds of kids playing on the playground. The roof of the daycare was damaged by the tornado, with bricks that had fallen off the building being organized into piles. Volunteers are helping them with the cleanup efforts.

It means it will be some time before children will be able to return.

“I love the children, love the community, and it’s just hard. My heart is broken, you know, with my building broken,” said Malone.

Raggedy Ann ‘n Andy Daycare was in session Friday when the tornado hit. Malone said there was no warning, nobody heard a siren. The first warning was the lights flickering.

She said, “Asked everyone upstairs, on the upper level, to come down, and as they were coming, the skylight popped out and this kind of like sand and water, just started coming down, so the kids were terrified.”

The students and teachers rode out the tornado in a bathroom on the first floor. No one was hurt, but it was difficult for many of the kids. Malone it is currently difficult not having the students at the daycare.

“Very hard because we do have the parents calling. It’s just affecting us. It’s a hard feeling, and just with knowing the children were very terrified and crying. I know we had one little guy just saying, ‘I’m scared, I’m scared.’ That just caused all of us, the children are crying, the staff are crying, so it’s just worrying about their wellbeing,” said Malone.

Her home and rental property, as well as the daycare, were damaged significantly. The rain on Monday also weakened the ceiling inside the daycare. She’s waiting on insurance and crews to make repairs. Malone said the main thing needed right now is prayers.

“Just really pray for us because I wouldn’t want to take resources away from anyone that I don’t have a need for,” said Malone.

Her daughter said, though, that they could use donations of outdoor toys, as the ones they recently purchased were carried away, and fencing, as the fence around the playground was broken.

Malone said they’re also waiting for the power to come back on, efforts that have been slowed because she said when there’s a shooting in the general vicinity, those crews stop work and have to leave the area.

“We want the workers to be able to go home to their families, and I definitely understand,” said Malone.

In the Academy-Sherman Park Neighborhood, the Youth In Need St. Louis Early Learning Program Academy School is focusing on the community aspect of being a community school. The impact of the storm is being felt by Youth in Need’s family and staff, from minor to significant damage.

Youth In Need VP Early Learning Programs Melissa Tureaud said, “It’s important that our building is okay and up and running, but it’s more important that these families that have to stay and live here every day have the that they need to get their homes and lives back to normal.”

Tureaud said Youth In Need wasn’t in session last Friday, as its staff was taking part in a planned event.

While there was some damage around the building, there was little damage inside the school. There is some roof damage that has leaked water into part of the building, but Youth in Need said once the power comes back on, they’ll be able to move quickly to reopen.

“Fortunate this is an old elementary school building, so it’s made of tough stuff.” Tureaud said, “We know it’s important that children have routines. In the midst of trauma, we want our doors to be open so that they have a place that they’re familiar with that’s safe, that they can get three meals a day and see familiar faces, and that will, of course, free up the adults in their lives to be able to focus on the storm recovery without having to keep close eyes on their children.”

Tureaud said when they reopen, it will allow them to reconnect with every family to see what their needs are and connect them to resources.

In the meantime, they’re set up outside of their building on Raymond Avenue, collecting and distributing donations and food. They’re also able to help people with medical care through its clinic partnership.

Tureaud said, “I would just ask people to come in help. I think sometimes on the news and social media, it looks like there’s so much happening that people might sit at home and think that things are taken care of, but the need is so great.”

Elmer Simril is among the people volunteering at the Academy School. She lives just down the road. Her first interaction with them was on Sunday when Youth in Need and volunteers came to her home.

“This organization here that actually came and hugged me on Sunday when I had no roof on my house,” said Simril. “They came in and they helped me. They brought me food, they brought me food, they brought me lights.”

Simril said her home has since been declared uninhabitable after the rain on Monday caused more damage. That displacement not stopping her from doing what she can.

“Throughout the city of St. Louis, throughout the State of Missouri, if you can help, please, it doesn’t matter if you have 50 cents, if you have a can of food, help.” Simril said, “Volunteering isn’t nothing but love, and I’ve got a lot of it. I will continue to help them as much as I possibly can.”

Youth in Need is working to organize donations and volunteers. Here is how people can help:

• Cash donations can be made here: https://www.youthinneed.org/giving-volunteering/donate/. Note “tornado relief” in the comment box.
• Here are tangible items that we’re hearing people need:
  • Packaged food
  • Bottled water
  • Tarps
  • Plywood
  • Trash bags
  • Diapers (all sizes)
  • Cleaning supplies, bleach, disinfectant, masks, gloves
  • Flashlights (with batteries)
  • Clothing (socks, underwear, etc.)
  • Personal care items (shower wipes, toothpaste, etc.)
  • Large, heavy-duty plastic totes/storage bins
• If people want to volunteer or have questions about donating the above tangible items, please Andy Perry, Development Services Manager, at [email protected] or 636-757-9334.

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