Humans of St. Louis:
Ginelle Bess’ Story

Editor’s Note: Over the next few days, we’re sharing Ginelle Bess’ story as part of a Humans of St. Louis and STLMade collaboration profiling ongoing tornado recovery efforts across St. Louis. We will update this story with new content as it publishes on our Facebook and Instagram pages this week. And learn how to get involved in tornado relief and recovery efforts across St. Louis.

Subject: Ginelle Bess

Ginelle Bess is fast becoming a community builder. What started as outreach to those in need in the days after the May 16 tornado has now transformed into a nonprofit, Grassroots Redeeming Love, dedicated to helping the community in North City recover. This is her story.

“The day the tornado happened, I walked out onto my patio in The Grove knowing something was going on and I couldn’t even open my eyes without stuff hitting my eyeballs. I didn’t know how badly the tornado hit. So I just went about my night like normal. I went out to eat, had some drinks with a friend, and the next morning I woke up to go to work. That’s when I saw people cutting down trees and clearing roads in Clayton.

I thought, ‘Whoa. If cleanup is happening here, I wonder if people were affected in North City?’ I couldn’t even unload my car for work. I texted my client in her driveway, ‘Is there any way I could reschedule? I need to see if anybody is helping in North City like people are for you all.’ She said, ‘Of course, please go.’ 

I drove to the store to get cases of water and trash bags, thinking, ‘I’m going to do my good deed — pass out some waters, pick up some trash.’ When I finally got there, it was an out-of-the-body experience. I’d never seen anything like it. The tornado had hit just over two miles from where I live. And I saw the devastation and people out on their porches with this look in their eyes like, ‘What are we gonna do?’ There was so much debris in their front yards, and not one first responder had arrived yet. There was so much tragedy.

I didn’t know what to say to people or what I was going to do, but I did let them know, ‘People are coming to help y’all.’ And they laughed at me. It hurt my feelings. I wondered, ‘Why are they laughing? Somebody’s gonna come help them.’ They told me, ‘Nobody’s gonna come help us.’

The first person I saw was Ms. Judy Simmons. And she is why volunteers and I have been in Fountain Park since May 17. Everything on the inside of her home was on her front lawn, but what was so beautiful was that she was surrounded by all her family. I was so drawn to her. I told her, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to help you. I don’t have the funds. But I’m going to stick around and do what I can.’ I knew all I had to offer them was my love. And that’s where the redeeming love part of Grassroots Redeeming Love comes from.”

“Growing up, I never felt seen. So I was the girl who joined every extra-curricular activity, every sport, every everything. I sought validation all the time, even from my parents and my family, who were supposed to see me, but they never did. And when I met Ms. Judy, she saw me. Nothing was ever forced. My love was always enough. Ms. Judy’s family is special. And what got me started, and specifically invested in Fountain Park, was her family. I keep showing up because of the way I feel when I’m with her and with all the other people I’ve met through this tornado recovery. I could not leave them. Ms. Judy’s family didn’t have a roof. They still don’t have a roof. So that’s one of the first families we’re going to help with the funds we’ve raised.

In the beginning, I’d tell myself, ‘I don’t have anything else to offer these folks, but I’m going to keep showing up and keep loving on them.’ Since then, they’ve always made me feel like that was enough. I’ve come to learn that what the people offer me is what keeps me going. It’s the way they treat me; the way they make me feel. There are no expectations. I don’t have to be anybody but myself. They’re just happy I’m there, continuously showing up. The way they love me, the way they see me… All I’ve ever really wanted is for people to see my heart. And they do.”

“I was born in St. Louis and moved away with my family when I was about 5. My estranged father is a bishop who’s seen over multiple churches, so we were sent through an organization to start a church in Kentucky. That’s where I was raised. But I moved back to St. Louis to get a fresh start. Being from a small town, I needed to get away from everything I had known. I always felt like I was quitting something, unable to see anything through. I was struggling with my mental health, I had dropped out of college, I left the military, and I just needed something new. 

I thought St. Louis was a big city, but it’s not. I was couch-hopping before I came back, and I had an aunt here who I knew would let me live with her. So I was going through the motions, waking up doing the same thing over and over, barely getting by. I knew I needed to get on my feet and figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Even just a change of scenery. All my friends were graduating, getting married, starting their lives. And I felt like, ‘I’m just so behind. Either I get out of here, or I really get out of here.’ So I came to St. Louis to start over. My plan was to get as many jobs as I could to make ends meet. And that’s what I did. I worked two jobs, at a Private Fitness facility in Creve Coeur and as a secretary at Christ Lutheran Church in Webster Groves.

I’ve meal-prepped for myself for years now. It was a thing I did to save money, not because it was cool. So I’d take my meal preps into both of my jobs, and people started saying, ‘That smells good! Who’s making your food?’ And I’d say, ‘Me. But f*** off, respectfully. I don’t have time to cook for you, too.’ Then COVID hit, and I got fired from both my jobs. That’s when a lightbulb went off, like, ‘You should probably text those people asking you to cook for them.’ So I did. And Honey I’m Home was born from there. I never even thought of starting a business. All of my success has been people believing in me or giving me that extra push. People saw this talent, and it kinda took off. I can do a lot of things, actually. I just need to stop telling myself that I can’t.”

Haley Christinidis: “I’ve been in St. Louis for 20 years, and I met Ginelle from social media. I work for O & O Hospitality, which owns O+O Pizza, The Clover and the Bee, Olive + Oak, and Perennial on Lockwood. As a company, we go on a float trip every Memorial Day because our establishments are closed. This past Memorial Day happened to be cold and rainy. So I told my staff that instead of going to the river, we were going to Ginelle, who I saw was asking for volunteers to help clean up debris from the tornado. I reached out to her on Instagram, like, ‘Hey! I have about 10 people who can volunteer. We’re gonna meet you.’ And I pulled some resources together.”

Ginelle Bess: “Haley never stopped coming. And she never comes empty-handed. She is always asking, ‘What more can I do?’ At first, it was a lot! As a white woman showing up for a Black community, at first, we butted heads a bit. She was new to this. She wanted to help more, but didn’t quite know how. But Haley has completely exceeded my expectations. She is on fire in the best way, and I’m so proud that she’s a part of our organization.”

Haley Christinidis: “Let’s just be real. One of the huge components we need to talk about is the racial divide here in St. Louis. I’m not from here, but when I first moved from Houston, it was strange walking into this city. Coming from the South, I had never been surrounded by so many white people. But Ginelle’s message is so much more powerful than mine, and it’s important for people to hear it coming from a Black woman. Racial division is something I’ve always inherently known about, but I don’t know how to fix it alone. So, how do I try to help fix it? By joining a great cause with a Black-led organization and following the lead.”

Haley, what made you want to cross the racial divide in St. Louis? Why now, why here, why with an organization like Grassroots Redeeming Love, which Ginelle started as a result of the tornado?

Haley Christinidis: “My mother passed away three years ago. I’ve been struggling with grief. I have a child, but she’s 18 and doesn’t need me as much anymore. So working with the elderly in North City has sort of helped with my grief in so many ways. I took care of my mother when she was ill, and now I don’t have her to take care of anymore. So I channeled my grief into helping people who could use my help. What strikes me through all of this is that people who weren’t affected by the tornado come up to me all the time telling me they think it’s strange that I’m over in Fountain Park or The Ville by myself. And I don’t feel scared. But they think I’m crazy for going there and giving my time.”

Ginelle Bess: “I had someone tell me they were scared to give their cell phone number out to a person affected by the tornado. So I told them, ‘If you’re scared to give your number to a human being who doesn’t look like you, you don’t need to be down here doing this work.’ That’s also an example of why I’m so particular with the people I allow to come help us. I mean, scared to give your number out? My big thing is ‘selfless people only.’ I don’t just take anybody with me out to North City. If my name is associated with something, I’m selective.”

 “I had never posted online so much before, but I started spamming my followers with stories about the tornado. I wanted to make a big deal of what was happening and ask for help. I had my camera rolling and would say, ‘You guys, nobody is here in North City. People, get out here!’ Then I’d screenshot donations from friends sending money, people were catching on, and more people started to send money. It was important for me that they saw their money was making changes in real time, because when you show people where their money is going, it continues to flow. And with our work, it really has. But I realized I needed to make an actual organization when I had brought in $20k in donations. I wasn’t going to be okay if I continued to do that amount of work by myself, and I didn’t want to get stuck with a big tax bill. So I needed to take a step back.

Before the tornado, I didn’t like asking for help. Now I needed to ask people to help me make Redeeming Love something more and be part of it to grow. I reached out to Haley, who reached out to Danielle Arts and Lara Pennington-McLaughlin, and I talked to my friend Hannah Boxerman-Kohrs. When we all met, we came with notes and talked about turning this grassroots effort into an organization, like, ‘Let’s do it!’ People gave their time, their resources, and all their knowledge. And, step by step, they told me what I needed to get everything legalized and insured, and how to do things the right way the first time around.

The next day, I applied for everything I needed to apply for. We got a lawyer to do the paperwork, and six weeks later, we got approved as a nonprofit. Now we have a whole board of 16 people. It’s all women. Everybody has a different background. And although we didn’t have our 501(c)3 status at the time, we decided to start planning a huge event on October 23 to start rebuilding homes.”

“One afternoon in front of Ms. Judy Simmons’ house, her neighbor, Mr. Melvin, came out and sat on his porch. So I wandered over to make conversation. And he was like, ‘Well, I ain’t got no roof.’ Over time, other neighbors saw that some people were getting help, so they’d wander over to see who I was and if they could get help, too. So more people would reach out, and we would try to help. At first, we thought we could get dumpsters and volunteers to clear the homes. My mindset was, ‘If we could just get little things like that done, maybe the city would show up and do the big stuff.’ Turns out, they weren’t little things. Still, I kept thinking, ‘If we could just do those, the city and government could step up with the funding they have.’ I had nothing else to offer than what we were doing.”

Ginelle Bess: “Back to the racial divide, I am a Black woman leading this organization, and it was so hard to get a fiscal sponsor. At the start of tornado relief efforts, I was seeing white people who didn’t even have an organization get that, and I wondered, ‘What’s going on here? Didn’t I take all the right steps to be a legitimate organization in the State of Missouri?’ It was so disheartening. So I reached out to Hannah Boxerman-Kohrs, our Secretary, to voice my frustrations and she took it upon herself to reach out to Senator Eric Schmidt, and we got approval within a week.”

Haley Christinidis: “We got approved by the IRS on September 17, exactly four months and a day after the tornado.”

Ginelle Bess: “Since then, it’s like everything has been falling into place, the way it’s meant to be. Everything I put my mind to, I’ve either been forced out of or not made to belong. And I don’t think North City will be one of those things I let people push me away from. I’ve had such a hard time, especially with some making me feel like I don’t belong there, or that there are things I could be doing better. Still, I can’t let anybody push me out of the work we’ve started doing there.”

Ginelle Bess: “Haley was telling me, ‘People are asking, once all the hype dies down, how are you all gonna continue to raise money?’ And I said, ‘Don’t even talk like that. It’s too early.’ One, I haven’t even asked for a dime in two weeks. And, two, last week we raised $57,000. Plus, we have donors lined up wanting to continue to invest in our projects long-term. It’s gonna continue to come. Whether you believe in God or not, I do. And this is God’s work.”

Haley Christinidis: “I feel like a lot of people do want to help North City. Here in Webster Groves, being the City of the Arts and being a very liberal giving neighborhood of St. Louis, they want to help. Some just didn’t know how. My liaising in Webster was a transition for Redeeming Love to start getting some funding, too. I work for the best restaurant group in St. Louis. And guess what? They were also built on philanthropy. And they’re human beings who care about human beings. So if they see me running with something important, then they stand behind it.”

Ginelle Bess: “And they have. O&O Hospitality was our presenting sponsor for our October 23 event. Their event space is where it was held. We’ve held every meeting here in their space. They feed us. They’ve gotten a ton of gift cards from Home Depot. We take North City residents out to dinner at one of their places, and they cover everything on the house. The whole hospitality crew has been amazing. And those giving back are not just throwing money at places that need it. They’re people who actually care and are out volunteering with us, too.”

What are volunteers saying when they’ve been out with you doing tornado cleanup?

Ginelle Bess: “The volunteers embody everything we need people to be when they’re out there serving people. I mean, there have been homes that I cannot go into because the smell alone would make me puke. And she and her crew will tough it out, whereas I couldn’t. Some even just get off work the night before, and have to go into work after volunteering. I’m like, ‘Wow!’ A lot of people tell me, ‘Oh, I wish I could do more.’ But even if they can’t come to physically clean up the homes, they’re supporting us through social media and sending sweet, encouraging messages.

The emotional toll through all of this is probably harder than anything, and the support from someone who keeps me uplifted is just as beneficial as someone who is boots on the ground. Not many understand how hard this work is. And to meet so many good people, like through Haley, who has brought in so many resources… She’s gotten people to see us who wouldn’t have seen us if it weren’t for her being so dedicated. Haley, I don’t know how much I can stress that to you, but thank you so, so, so, much.”

Haley Christinidis: “You tell me, and I’ll believe you.”

How are you juggling your food prep business with everything else?

“I know! In the beginning, my clients would tell me, ‘You go out there and be with the people who need it.’ And I did that for a while. But Honey I’m Home is why I’m even here. It’s been a five-year process, and I’ve worked so hard to have it. I went in circles trying to figure out how to get this business off the ground. But my clients were supportive, and I’m grateful for that. I’ve also had to continue to make a living for myself and not let Honey I’m Home fall off. I don’t have kids. I don’t have a husband. Every time I’ve even contemplated, ‘What is my purpose?’ the thing that comes up is Honey I’m Home. Even though it wasn’t profitable back then, I built it from the ground up, so it is something for me to live for. I’m finally in a place where I can pay all my bills on time. Plus, it’s the best feeling to do something that I love and work for people who care about me. I had such a horrible experience in corporate America and the military that I knew I couldn’t go back to any of that. Instead, I had to reel it in, focus on what I was here for, and provide a service to my clients. Finally, I feel like I’m back to a steady balance.”

“In the very beginning of Redeeming Love, I said no to media requests. We could have been in the news a long time ago, but we didn’t like the way they were approaching people affected by the tornado. And we had too much work to do, too. Now that we’re an organization, we want our name out there. Well, we were asked to be a part of an article for The Wall Street Journal. I was hesitant to interview for the article, but everybody kept telling me, ‘It’s The Wall Street Journal!’

Eventually, I spent an hour talking about the racial divide in St. Louis, talking about where we were working in Kingsway East — which was one of the worst-hit parts from the tornado — and how people and their homes were completely devastated. The reporter, from out of town, agreed it was the worst he had seen on his visit, too. 

So I said to the journalist, ‘Tell their stories. And keep their stories theirs. Don’t mention my name, just our organization. But, whatever you do, please mention the racial divide in this article.’ Then the article comes out, and the only thing added from our one-hour conversation was, ‘Ginelle said she was scared for the winter coming.’ I just felt like, ‘That’s all the interviewer got out of what I said?’ I’m in The Wall Street Journal, and all I got was a blurb about how I’m scared of the cold.”

Well, the cool thing about this interview is that we’re not journalism, we’re storytelling. So what would you like to say? What is your vision? What else do you want to share about what you’ve seen, who you’re working with, and where you’re headed?

Ginelle Bess: “In the beginning, Redeeming Love just wanted to clean homes. But our vision for this is that we want to see neighborhoods restored. Fountain Park is going to be the start of it. I’m gonna say it right now, because I believe words have power: ‘We are gonna restore Fountain Park. We’re gonna redo the park. We’re gonna start at Judy’s home, move down to Mr. Melvin’s home, and restore the neighborhood. Then we’re gonna move down to restore Leduc and continue as long as we can.’ When donors ask, ‘How long do you plan to continue?’ The answer is, ‘As long as we can.’

Haley Christinidis: “It’s needed. And these neighborhoods have long needed additional care.”

Ginelle Bess: “When we’re not boots on the ground, we have another opportunity called Labor of Love. Like, Haley just took Mr. Melvin fishing — one of his favorite things to do. Or, volunteers will go grocery shopping with tornado survivors or bring them groceries or sit and go through their voicemails and mail with them. Those little things mean so much to the survivors and volunteers, and they mean a lot to us.

This work is the most challenging work I’ve ever been a part of, and also so healing. I’ve taken a lot, and there have been a lot of unspoken sacrifices that’ll probably go to my grave. But I don’t care because of the way the people we’re helping make me feel. This is a love I’ve always wanted and just never felt until now.”

What’s been the most challenging and the most rewarding part of tornado cleanup for you, Haley?

Haley Christinidis: “Home repairs are super costly. We raised $57,000 in a week, but that doesn’t even repair a roof and brickwork. Are we happy and grateful that we have that? Absolutely. Are we going to be able to start work? Absolutely. But the Simmons family got an $84,000 bid for brickwork and a roof alone. That’s a challenge because we don’t want to just put patches on a home. We want to complete one house and go to the next.

I’m a powerhouse. I’ve always moved fast. But I was also recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. So, slowing down is hard for me. And I’m more tired. I thought it was perimenopause or menopause, but no. So I ask a lot of people for help. At the same time, what also challenges me is my disappointment in people. Namely, white women. Because when I ask for help, I need help.

At first, I didn’t go about it asking for actual funds but for gift cards. I felt like if we got those, we could build relationships with people. And once we got the cards to places like Home Depot and Walmart, and we were buying formula, clothes, drinks, and animal food, donors could better see what we were doing. But when I talk about our relief efforts to people and they’re not interested, that bugs me.”

Ginelle Bess: “They’re not affected.”

Haley Christinidis: “I know. I just can’t believe that people can not do anything.”

Ginelle Bess: “And I’m like, ‘Girl, I’m Black. I’m so used to being told no.’ It’s like, ‘Get over it.’”

Haley Christinidis: “I’ve been dismissed about it too much, and I don’t like it.”

Ginelle Bess: “But Haley is on it.”

Haley Christinidis:“Yeah, I tell people, ‘If you don’t want to donate, then volunteer. My significant other’s family is seeing me work really hard with Redeeming Love. They came down to Ms. Gwen’s to clean up, lasted 30 minutes, and got the f*** out of there. Because they didn’t realize how hard the cleanup work is. It was overwhelming for them.”

Ginelle Bess: “It’s a lot. People gotta get out there, really.”

Ginelle Bess: “Haley’s such a connector. Even before Redeeming Love was a thing, she connected me to so many people. And once she makes that connection, I’m OK to maintain it. Like, Lara’s been a great friend since the tornado, and then she donated $10,000, and then she told me her brother was the CEO of Proper Cannabis, who was generous enough to make a donation. She literally saw my heart first. Didn’t even know me and just poured into me. And it was at a time when I really, really, really needed people to pour into me, whether I knew you or not. Her brother was like, ‘We just started a nonprofit arm and want to partner with you for future projects.’ I’m like, ‘Get over here, John. Get over here, Buddy!’ And he let us know, ‘There’s more where that’s coming from. We’re just getting started.’ I was like, ‘Thank you so much!’”

What is the big goal you’d like to see with your organization and people in St. Louis?

Ginelle Bess: “I want people to see our organization and see diversity. I grew up around all white people. I had a thicker accent, and people would make fun of my white girl voice, or whatever. But I’ve always been the only Black woman in spaces. I’m so used to being the minority. I’ve shaped myself to fit in or make other people comfortable, and I’m not OK with that anymore. It’s important for me that when people see Redeeming Love, they see many races. Because it’s 2025. Why do we have all white groups over here and all Black groups over there? I’m like, ‘Y’all, if you’re only surrounded by people who look like you, you’re not learning much.’ When our white volunteers have dropped things off for Black residents, yes, sometimes our residents are uncomfortable. The volunteers dropping off are probably uncomfortable, too at first. But getting people to be uncomfortable needs to be normalized. How do you expect to learn or be different or make any kind of change in the world if you’re always comfortable? You can’t. There’s no way. No way.”

Haley Christinidis: “We’ve always started big. Like putting on a tornado relief party, which is mostly a connection from one area of St. Louis to another area of St. Louis, so everybody can help each other. Everybody’s our neighbor. That’s how I see things. You’re telling me you got a BLM sign in your yard? So are you coming with me to North City? I don’t have one in my yard. And I don’t need one in my yard, because I’m out here trying to do the work. My best friend is queer and Black. And my other best friend is queer and Black. I remember walking my dog one day, zooming in on Black Lives Matter signs, but I hadn’t seen any of those homeowners in North City helping out. Listen. Practice what you preach. If you go to church, you can’t be a shitty person. You gotta follow through. I want St. Louis to know that we can be better by helping others. It’s a need. It’s not even an option. We need to make sure we take care of each other. And that includes everyone.”

“This is not a competition. Uplift Black women in this space. Uplift Black women always.”

What would Ginelle now say to Ginelle a year ago?

“My love was always enough. It was always enough.”

“The storm passed, but we’re still here — on the ground, in the community. Grassroots Redeeming Love harnesses the power of possibility to restore North City, St. Louis.” 

Reflections from Love on Lockwood: A tornado relief party for North City, which took place on Oct. 25.

Ginelle Bess: “I picked up my date, Mr. Melvin, in Fountain Park.”

Melvin Arnold: “You were beautiful.”

Ginelle Bess: “You were beautiful, too! We also picked up our other residents all over North City in Uber Blacks. They did their grand entrance. Everyone welcomed them. They had their own VIP room. We sold out all 180 tickets. We had a goal to raise $80,000, and we raised $123,000. We did a fund-a-need, every one of those were met, and one of those was moving Mr. Melvin into his new place. So we moved him, he’s got his rent and utilities paid up for the first six months, and his entire place is furnished because of that event. It was wonderful! So many people showed up. The night was a blur, honestly. A lot of people were reminding me to remind myself that all those people were in the room because I have a heart and I cared and I needed to know that. They reminded me, ‘We’re here because of you, and that’s okay. We’re here to support you.’ That meant a lot to me. I had always wanted a family who cared about me, and I found my family through North City. To look out at a crowd and see so many people looking back at me who love and support me was the best feeling. The highlight of my entire life so far was that night. We ended it just dancing all night. All night. It was so much fun.”’

To donate or to volunteer with Ginelle, Haley, and their team, head over to Grassroots Redeeming Love. Grab a friend, grab a neighbor, and get in anywhere.