Urban League’s ‘Weekend of Service’ opens with packed job fair, cleanup

More than 1,000 job seekers stopped by as tornado recovery work was held nearby

The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis opened its “Weekend of Service” on Friday with the kind of energy that has defined the organization’s work since the May 16, 2025 tornado changed the landscape of North St. Louis. More than 1,000 people made their way through the job and resource fair at the Urban League’s headquarters, while crews from more than 20 construction companies fanned out across tornado-damaged neighborhoods for a full day of cleanup.

For many, it felt like the first step in a weekend built around remembrance, recovery and the resolve to rebuild.

“This is the Urban League at work at its best,” said Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League. “To have over 100 employers and resource providers serving over 1,000 people — and to have them come out ready to find new careers, better careers, scholarships and training — is part of a 108-year tradition.”

The job fair crowd reflected the full spectrum of the community. Some arrived in corporate attire, others in jeans and T-shirts. A few women carried babies. Families and couples moved together from table to table after signing in with Save Our Sons and Save Our Sisters.

At the same time, cleanup crews were clearing debris, tearing down unsafe structures and working alongside city partners to stabilize blocks still bearing the storm’s scars.

“While we’re doing this job fair, we have 20 corporations and construction companies out in the community clearing debris from the tornado,” McMillan said. “It shows what you can do when you work together.”

Standing near the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Kingshighway — an area hit hard by the storm — McMillan reflected on the devastation that impacted his own organization and the determination that followed.

“You look at this greenhouse that was destroyed, the shopping plaza torn down, the buildings with millions of dollars in damage,” he said. “But you also see the resilience of people who lived through it and are saying, ‘We want jobs. We want to better ourselves. We want to come back better than we were.’”

That determination was visible throughout the job fair.

“I wish all of the people who say that we don’t want to work could be here today,” said LaMore “LA” Maclin of the St. Louis Agency on Training & Employment. “Anyone looking for work can find it here — or a career path through training.”

Save Our Sisters program assistant Erica Williams said the turnout affirmed the work they do every day.

“It feels good to be that launching pad,” she said. “There are so many barriers, but we’re trying to provide the resources to combat them. Your book is not closed because of the tornado. You still have another chapter to add — and another after that.”

Williams said the next chapter for many survivors must include mental health support — something she believes the region has not fully confronted.

“Imagine your kids’ pictures strewn across your front yard. Imagine not being able to go back into a home that’s been in your family for years,” Williams said. “That does something to a person — and it’s still doing something to people as they try to rebuild. Mental health has to be in the next steps.”

For many attendees, the event offered a sense of possibility.

“It feels good to be a part of the community and to have access to this,” said Ember Fowler. “Even if it’s a small step. You’ve got to start somewhere.”

Corey Burns came to support the effort and to push back against fears that damaged neighborhoods will be left behind.

“We are all looking for better opportunities — even if we have jobs,” he said. “And when you have someone providing these opportunities like the Urban League is doing, you can’t help but think that all is not lost.”

He wasn’t personally impacted by the tornado, but several family members and friends were.

“Are they waiting to fall apart so that the neighborhoods can be gentrified?” Burns said. “Will it be one of those situations where we ride through the old neighborhood and say, ‘This don’t look nothing like where my grandma lived’?”

He feels that there is an agenda when it comes to that, but he also feels that the Urban League is working to combat that agenda.

“We can go certain places and see how they have helped,” Burns said. “I can see the difference a cleanup made.”

McMillan said that spirit — the willingness to show up, give, rebuild and support one another — is what carried the community through the immediate aftermath of the tornado and what must continue in the years ahead.

“This is not a one-hit wonder,” he said. “This is a long-term, 10-year process of funding, commitment and planning to make sure we get the job done.”

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