All Hands and Hearts Monthly Update - Texas (May)

TEXAS: HOUSTON & COASTAL BEND HURRICANE RECOVERY UPDATE (May 2019)

CURRENT ACTIVITIES (RECOVERY PHASE) ●

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We are excited to announce a new partnership with SERJobs in Houston, with whom we will be training individuals with barriers to employment to support their paths to careers in construction. Our Houston community is glad to welcome our first SER client this week!

In the past month, our teams completed 12 homes; and our programs thus far have welcomed 67 families back into fully-finished interior spaces.

We are committed to the long-term recovery effort in Texas through August 2020; and we continue to provide recovery assistance to homeowners in Northeast Harris County and Aransas, San Patricio, and Refugio Counties, filling the immediate and unmet needs of homeowners still struggling to recover.

ENERGIZING SITE PROGRESS As exhibited left at Leonard Goss’s home, site progress is energized by corporate and other volunteer groups. To date, our Texas programs have welcomed thirty-seven corporate volunteer groups for both day and week-long trips, and we look forward to welcoming more. Please reach out to Danielle Greenwald at danielle.g@allhandsandhearts.org for more information on our array of corporate group volunteer opportunities.

PICTURED LEFT: A group of day volunteers from Beam Suntory paints the outside of Leonard Goss’s home.

PICTURED ABOVE: Houston volunteer Sid finishes a window.

AMERICORPS CITYSQUARE MEMBERS AT WORK In January 2019, both Houston and Coastal Bend welcomed their first groups of AmeriCorps CitySquare members, who have committed six full months to rebuilding homes affected by Hurricane Harvey. Now entering their fourth month of service, these members have become pillar members of our base communities.

Their advanced training speaks for itself in detail-oriented construction work that brings homeowners back into beautifully built spaces, one of which is exhibited in the before-and-after photos below!

PICTURED RIGHT: AmeriCorps CitySquare member Areli Estrada takes a break to cuddle up with the family cat.

PICTURED BELOW: Before and after photos of homeowner Alice Thomas’s kitchen.

OUR IMPACT

4,044

PEOPLE IMPACTED

1,127

JOBS COMPLETED

3,849 VOLUNTEERS

32,524

VOLUNTEER DAYS

DISASTER PROFILE Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25, 2017, near Rockport, TX as a Category 4 Hurricane that produced a record 52" of rain and 130-mph winds. One third of Houston was completely flooded, with an estimated 136,000 homes affected in Harris County alone. The Coastal Bend region was hit especially hard, and experienced $4.5 billion in damage to an estimated 39,927 structures. Destruction in this region was magnified by high speed winds that took down trees and destroyed roofs, amplifying interior water damage far beyond that caused by the storm surge and flooding. Structures were afflicted with top-down water damage that led to long-term struggles in keeping homes dry, as well as debris and tree hazards littered throughout the region.

OUR WORK Thanks to critical support from donors, partners, and volunteers from around the world, All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response has been in Houston and Coastal Bend since the immediate days after Hurricane Harvey. During the response phase, our teams were able to complete an impactful 16-week response program in Coastal Bend and an 18-week program in Houston. Since February 2018, our commitment to the recovery effort has concentrated site supervisors and volunteers on constructing high quality interior repair. We are driven by the continued recognition of the immense scale of need that still exists in Texas; and the compassion of volunteers to keep coming back.

OUR MISSION To effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. By listening to local people, and deploying a unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, we rebuild safe and resilient schools, homes, and other community infrastructure.

OUR TEXAS PARTNERS

5 YEARS IN A ROW! Only 10% of charities have received at least 5 consecutive 4-star ratings. This means All Hands and Hearts outperforms most of the other 1.5 million charities in America in operational and financial efficiency.

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