Houstonians Helping Each Other in the Spirit of the Holiday Season By Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner

Houstonians are known for coming to the rescue when our neighbors are in need. We have a proven record for opening our hearts, wallets and shelters in response to emergencies.

While we continue to build a better, safer and smarter city after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Tropical Storm Imelda in September damaged the homes and lives of  hundreds of local residents. But thanks to the public’s generosity, victims already are receiving help.

The Imelda Assistance Fund that County Judge Lina Hidalgo and I started, in collaboration with the Greater Houston Community Fund, recently awarded its first assistance grants. It sent $310,000 to six experienced, local non-profits that will help the storm victims directly with cash, home repairs and connections to public services.

More donations are needed to complete this mission of mercy. In this marvelous season of giving, receiving, and appreciating friends and family, please consider donating to the fund. You can learn more about the fund at https://ghcf.org/imelda or 713-333-2200.

Please be assured that donations are handled responsibly and transparently. Non-profit agencies apply for grants based on their track record with Hurricane Harvey relief, their presence in the hardest hit areas by Tropical Storm Imelda and support from trusted disaster relief partners.

The Imelda Assistance Fund has a grants committee of community members that reviews all grant applications and makes recommendations to an advisory board, which approves the grants. Each grant specifies that the funds must go toward programs that will benefit storm victims within the next 180 days.

If you know any Imelda victims,  please help spread the word that they should call 211 or go online to ImeldaSurvey.com to apply for help. Assistance is available in multiple languages.

As I have explained in my recent newsletters, it’s the federal government’s job to provide the principal  financial aid to communities hit by the largest disasters. But as we have all seen, federal money moves to local communities too slowly. Only now, for instance, is Houston getting the millions of dollars in grants we need to build flood control projects that will help to minimize the damage from future storms.

With federal funds to help with home repairs and relocations made necessary by Harvey, the City has now made significant progress with getting residents through the complex federal and state requirements for getting help.

Fortunately, Houstonians and other generous people around the country acted quickly after Harvey, donating about $114 million to the Harvey relief fund managed by the same organization that is handling the Imelda fund now. All of it was used to help the victims.

The bottom line is that we are addressing the needs of the Harvey and Imelda victims through  a combination of public and private dollars used in the most efficient way possible. The Houston way of helping our neighbors is on full display as I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, happy holidays and Happy New Year.