As St. Louis shifts from tornado response to recovery, many residents face complex legal questions about housing, contractors, and insurance. To meet them where they are, attorneys and WashU law students are providing free, on-site legal help.
On May 16, 2025, Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis, a longtime community partner of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, was devastated by an EF-3 tornado. Tragically, community leader Patricia Penelton lost her life, and fellow advocate Sherrill Jackson sustained injuries. Despite the destruction, the church and its partners including WashU’s Center for Community Health Partnership & Research (CCHPR) remain committed to rebuilding and continuing their mission of service and community engagement.
For Tyler Richards, who earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from McKelvey School of Engineering in 2022, a high school hobby set the stage for a career with purpose. Richards’ business, uFab, was one of three St. Louis startups to receive a $50,000 WashU Venture Network Follow-on Investment through a partnership between the Skandalaris Center and the “In St. Louis, For St. Louis” Initiative. The investments support ventures that are ready to scale and show promise to make a meaningful impact in the St. Louis region.
Construction of a north St. Louis farmers market and pavilion is moving forward, thanks in part to a new Washington University program where students design structures for local organizations. Be Well Cafe and Market will open in the Hyde Park neighborhood later this summer after holding weekly pop-up events. The farmers market pavilion will be surrounded by several metal screens. The creation of the screens is part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ Summer Public Design Workshop. A cohort of 10 students designed the concept after working with Fatimah Muhammad, executive director of Be Well Cafe and Market.
Launched May 12, “The Eye” reflects WashU Professor Rebecca Messbarger’s commitment — as co-founder and former director of the medical humanities minor in Arts & Sciences — to engaging students in community-facing projects that bridge humanistic inquiry and public health. “While our subjects will vary, along with the angle and intensity of our vision, we will always begin where we live: in the city of St. Louis,” said Messbarger, who also has an appointment in WashU’s School of Public Health.
On Thursday, April 24, a closing ceremony event for Philanthropy Lab — a WashU Sociology course co-sponsored by the Gephardt Institute — granted $70,900 among 22 local nonprofit organizations. That’s in addition to $62,500 already granted to St. Louis nonprofits in 2025 via the course, which was championed by former students of the course who were “ambassadors” with the national The Philanthropy Lab organization.
Last year, with funding from the Gephardt Institute’s St. Louis Impact Fund, three students at the WashU School of Medicine hosted a series of workshops aimed at helping St. Louis seniors take a more active role in their own health and well-being.
The May 16 tornado that devastated parts of the St. Louis region was on the ground for just 24 minutes. The cleanup will take months, maybe years. Several Washington University in St. Louis teams, as well as numerous individual employees and students, have answered the call to help through service and donations — showcasing WashU’s commitment to St. Louis.
The Living Earth Collaborative (LEC) combines the resources of WashU, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Saint Louis Zoo to understand, protect, and promote biodiversity in St. Louis and around the world. Through extensive conversation and collaboration, the LEC’s researchers are addressing pressing environmental problems that would be too big for one institution to tackle on its own.
Offered since 1997, the Live Near Your Work program remains popular with employees of both WashU and BJC. Over the years, it has supported more than 500 faculty and staff members in providing a total of $4.4 million in forgivable home loans for down payments and closing costs. Live Near Your Work’s primary goal is neighborhood stabilization via affordable and attainable home ownership. To better support that aim, and areas close to campus and the hospital, the program will adopt several modifications starting July 1.