A Place to Land: How Community Helped Melissa Start from Scratch

Draft a headline and common teaser for this impact story about Melissa.

When a tornado swept through St. Louis several months ago, it carved a path through the city and cut into the lives and routines of families across the region. Among those displaced was Melissa, who has been part of our employment services program for years. In an instant, the place she once called home was gone, replaced with an uncertainty, and the quiet ache of beginning again.

With help from Horizon Housing Development Company, she found a safe apartment and a fresh beginning. The space arrived with some essentials, but as anyone who has moved after a crisis knows, a home is more than four walls and a mattress. It needs warmth. Softness. The steady comforts that makes a space feel lived in rather than borrowed.

That's where her Easterseals team stepped in. Led by Employment Manager Shelley Jones and Director Lindsey Watson, staff gathered household items - pillows, kitchenware, cleaning supplies - and pooled together funds to help Melissa purchase the things only she could choose. What started as a practical effort quickly turned into something more: a reminder that community can be a safety net and a springboard, holding someone together while they find their footing again.

We're grateful for partners like Horizon Housing, who offer permanent housing for individuals, including those transitioning out of shelters. Their work, braided with ours, helps allow people like Melissa to be able to navigate these moments with others.

Today, she's settling into her new space, one chosen with intention and shaped by a team that believes in supporting the whole person, not just one need.

This is the work. And it matters.