BakerRipley/ Hurricane Harvey Relief

Making a Difference Together

 Your partnership has helped sustain BakerRipley’s disaster response programming, helping thousands of families rebuild their lives and continue contributing to the neighborhoods they call home. And, we invite you to continue the work with us.

 We remain deeply grateful. Thank you.

 A story of hope and resiliency.

Ms. J never expected to be one of 34 BakerRipley neighbors to receive a $10,000 Gallery Furniture gift card and an additional $3,600 to spend on home accessories when she woke up at the crack of dawn on August 24, 2018 to be part of the Hurricane Harvey 1-year anniversary news story on the TODAY Show.

 “What a generous donation from Mattress Mack,” exclaimed Ms. J. “We all cried or were in shock when we heard the news live on the air. I could never afford to fill my home with furniture and accessories this quickly.”

 For the past five years, Ms. J and her husband, Mr. B, have been living the American dream—of owning their first house—until Harvey hit. They were one of roughly 50 families selected out of more than 1,100 to receive a Habitat for Humanity home in the Settegast neighborhood.

 The night of the storm, water started rushing in under the doors and all the homes on the street started flooding; the neighborhood turned to them for help. A group of about 40 neighbors banded together and waded in waist deep water with babies, dogs and small kids to the corner store down the street. From there, a church opened and they were able to seek shelter for the rest of the day.

 “Once the water subsided, my husband, kids and I went to a hotel in Spring, TX and we wound up staying there for four and a half months,” Ms. J said. “We went back to the house a week later and it was horrific to see the home trashed and see what we lost. Harvey ruined a 50-year-old table and curio cabinet from my grandmother. I broke down and cried.”

 They were awarded FEMA money and they gave the check to Houston Habitat for Humanity, the organization who originally built their home, to repair it.

 “We had volunteers muck and gut her home, remove damaged items, and clean it out,” Houston Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Allison Hay said. “We did mold remediation, repaired her bathroom and installed new lower kitchen cabinets, gave her an appliance package, HVAC system and more. We also received donations that went directly to the homeowner, including a furniture package.”

 The family wanted to move in by Christmas, so they got to work and were able to meet that goal. The home still needed some work, but they could live in it that’s all they cared about.

 “Christmas Day we went digging through the trash looking for plumbing supplies to get one sink working and we did it, thanks to my husband’s handy work,” Ms. J said.

 Ms. J knew she still needed help completing her home, so she called the 2-1-1 Texas/United Way HELPLINE in mid-January and got assigned to a BakerRipley Disaster Case Manager who helped provide new tile floors, baseboards and paint through the BakerRipley-managed home restoration program, where BakerRipley provides a contractor and manages the restoration work.

“We finished the work Habitat for Humanity couldn’t complete,” BakerRipley Disaster Case Manager Mara said. “We were also able to get Ms. J approved for Unmet Needs assistance for mortgage assistance, a new sofa, loveseat, coffee and end tables and two queen bedroom sets for their two teenagers.”

 Mara says even though Ms. J’s home took on about four feet of water, she still wanted to help others. Thanks to Ms. J’s referrals, Mara is now case managing 11 of her neighbors!

 “Ms. J and all of her neighbors I’m working with hold a very special place in my heart,” Mara said. “These are all hard-working families with children trying to make it. Harvey came in and ravaged this place of dreams. They are trying to get back to a place where there’s no struggles and I’m trying hard to help them.”

 Mara has already gotten $2,000 approved through the Red Cross Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund and has submitted a second round of assistance for the family. It’s pending approval.

 “We were extremely happy to know BakerRipley came to Ms. J’s assistance for many needs we were not able to provide,” Hay said. “It is neighborhood partnerships like this one that we value in our fight to make repairs affordable and keep our homeowners set up for success.”

 Ms. J’s successful recovery is a real life example of team work making a full recovery possible.

Impact of Services

 As of Oct 24, we had served 5,770 households through disaster case management—3,558 still active and 2,212 successfully closed, serving a total of 16,355 individuals. In Unmet Needs, we’ve processed 5,026 requests and opened 3,098 cases, averaging $2,249 in assistance for each case and totaling $6,967,087 in funds awarded. Additionally, we have served 19,138 unduplicated households through distribution of basic needs totaling $2,468,068. We’ve received 1,520 home repair applications—804 already approved, 581 completed or construction in progress, and over $10.8M committed to the repair process for our neighbors.

 Given our current funding and rate of expenditures, we expect to continue service as follows:

 Disaster Case Management - Aug 31, 2019 - $1M gap in funding

Unmet Needs - May 31, 2019 - $2.3M gap in funding

Home Restoration (1,000 homes) - March 31, 2019 - $2M gap in funding

Neighborhood Restoration Centers - Dec 31, 2018 - Funded

 It takes all of us to strengthen and rebuild communities affected by Hurricane Harvey. Together, we will recover from this unprecedented storm. Thank you!

Holistic Disaster Response

 BakerRipley’s Get Connected Disaster Recovery Services main focus is to provide connections and resources to alleviate human suffering caused by Hurricane Harvey. The target population includes those affected by Hurricane Harvey and who reside in Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery, and Waller counties. Our program design includes four areas:

 We help neighbors to develop a pathway to recovery through Disaster Case Management. Our case managers, also called service connectors, work one-on-one with neighbors to develop a robust recovery plan to minimize the impact of loss as well as secure various resources needed for recovery. This is done by connecting them to available community resources and may include city/county services, workshops, and direct assistances from trusted community organizations. This unique approach to case management not only achieves client-case management collaborative goals, but has proven to build resiliency in the household.

 Through our Home Repair Program, we hope to assist 1,000 neighbors in rebuilding their homes.

 Our Unmet Needs Program assists neighbors with financial assistance for items/areas affected by the disaster such as rent/mortgage, or helping them to replace lost items, such as furniture, appliances, work equipment, medical devices, etc.

 BakerRipley has partnered with the City of Houston and Harris County to offer long-term disaster recovery support and services at BakerRipley community centers as part of the Neighborhood Restoration Program which connects neighborhoods severely impacted by the storm with available services and information, and serves as a connection point to rebuild the neighborhood and strengthen its long-term resiliency. BakerRipley operates six Neighborhood Restoration Centers in the following communities: East Aldine, Edgebrook, Greater Hobby, Greenspoint, Gulfton and Pasadena.

“The holidays are approaching and I’m overjoyed at the thought of having these special days in my home. So many memories! After the flood, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to live in this house again.

 BakerRipley changed my mindset, and my life! They, along with many others, prayed, supported and loved me on this journey of recovering from Hurricane Harvey. Every BakerRipley employee I’ve interacted with has been outstanding with a caring human spirit and a desire to help others. They were chosen correctly for their jobs.

 My family has always celebrated Christmas Eve at my house – together. Harvey took that away last year, but this year we are looking forward to cooking, eating, laughing and opening our stockings! The holidays are about togetherness and this year we’ll all be together to make more memories to last a lifetime.”

 -          Betty Cole, BakerRipley Disaster Recovery Neighbor

Links:

• Hurricane Harvey 1-year anniversary news story on the TODAY Show