Dear Urban Leaguers,
Hurricane Harvey has left an immense mark in the hearts of many Houstonians. We know many of our friends and neighbors are still in the process of recovering from this storm, which created such devastation. I am thankful that the Houston Area Urban League has been able to accomplish an extraordinary amount through our immediate recovery efforts, but as we learned through our Operation SAFE Houston natural disaster recovery initiative there is so much we still have to do.
To offer some perspective of how forceful the storm was, Harvey brought over 50 inches of rain to the city. This translates to an astonishing one trillion gallons of water, which left over 140,000 homes, businesses, and other establishments damaged. What was most unfortunate of all, was the storm took the lives of 36 individuals. Knowing the destruction this storm has caused, it became our mission to help as many of our citizens as possible through partnerships with shelters, recovery centers, local and national leaders. Over the past months, we have worked diligently to provide resource assistance and essential volunteer guidance. We have also provided referral information, as well as performing safety check outreach to our clients and other members of the community. Through the passion and commitment to serve, our staff and volunteers were also able to provide 990 hours of service in order to help families sheltered by George R. Brown Convention Center and NRG facilities. Thankfully, we were able to provide such services, while maintaining our normal operating services, which include our departments in youth development, housing counseling, workforce and small business development and health outreach.