Resident Spotlight
Meet Arlee
After the May 16th tornado in St. Louis hit the building that had been his home for 16 years, Arlee Hayes Jr. moved from shelter to shelter, sleeping on cots.
He was grateful for the shelter and meals, but Arlee shared that with his mobility, it was hard to get in and out of the cots. With a quick smile and even faster laugh, Arlee shared the story of the time one of the cots collapsed on him.
“It gave the whole shelter a laugh for weeks and weeks,” Arlee said. “So, when Miss Pat [from St. Vincent de Paul] had told me about this place here, she said, ‘Arlee, it’s a place called Peter and Paul over on North Florissant. You want to go there?’ I said, Miss Pat, do they have a bed?”
“But the experience, you know, has been so great,” Arlee continued. “I can’t say nothing [bad] about all the places we’ve been in. It’s been nice.”
Since his arrival at the Peter & Paul Community Campus, Arlee has built friendships with the other residents and made plans to move into a temporary apartment while his old building undergoes continued repairs. Once repairs on his old beloved building are complete, Arlee looks forward to returning to that same apartment he called home for 16 years.
“I’ve never been in this situation before. I’ve been in great places, you know, [with] great people. It just makes you forget about that you are really homeless, you know?”
We are grateful that the Community Campus could serve as a place of comfort and safety for Arlee after he was displaced by the tornado.